Web+Research+4



=**Web Research 4 : Using the Web for Research : Meta-search Tools and Directories**=


 * Aim:**

How do we search several search engines simultaneously? How do we search directories?


 * Common Core State Standards:**


 * CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.7** Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.


 * CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.8** Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation.


 * Objectives:**

Students will learn how to use Meta-search tools and directories.


 * Vocabulary:**


 * meta-search tools
 * parallel search tools
 * unified search interfaces


 * Introduction:**

I have mentioned the importance of looking in more than one search engine when trying to find relevant Web pages.

Each search engine varies in size, indexing structure, update frequency, and search options.


 * Discussion:**

Meta-search tools allow you to used several search engines simultaneously.

They are often called **parallel search tools** or **unified search interfaces**. Instead of building their own databases, meta-search tools use the major search engines and directories that already exist on the Internet and provide the user with search forms or interfaces for submitting queries to these search tools.

Simply by submitting a query, the meta-search tool collects the most relevant sites in each database and sends them to the screen. Here are the most popular meta-search tools:


 * Clusty
 * Dogpile
 * Ixquick
 * MetaCrawler
 * Search.com


 * Browsing the WWW : Using Directories**

There are two basic ways to find information on the WWW: You can search by keyword in search engines, or you can browse by subject or search directories by keyword.

While search engines are created by computer programs, directories are created and maintained by people.

Directories don't cover the entire Web.

In fact, directories are very small collections of resources, compared with the huge search databases that search engines employ.

Browsing and search directories can by a very effective way to find the resources you need, especially if you need general information on a broad subject.

Some directories contain collections of resources that librarians or other information specialists have carefully chosen and organized in a logical way.

The resources you find in these have been selected and place there because of their excellence and usefulness.

In directories, subject experts usually evaluate the included Web sites.

Typically, directories provide an organizational **hierarchy** with subject categories to facilitate browsing. Most include query interfaces in order to perform simple searches.

If you are at the beginning of your research, or if you are searching for an overview of the topic at hand, it may be helpful to use a directory.

Here are the most well-known directories on the WWW:


 * ipl2: Information You Can Trust
 * Infomine
 * Intute
 * LibrarySpot
 * Open Directory Project
 * Yahoo! Directory


 * Browsing Versus Searching a Directory**

If you don't want to take the time to browse categories in a directory, you may want to search the directory by keyword. Or you can do both.

It is a good idea to use different tactics when looking for something on the Web.

Keep in mind, however, that when you search most directories, by keyword, you will find Web pages that have the word or words that you are searching for in their titles, annotations, or URLs, not in the Web pages themselves.


 * In-Class Activity:**

1) Create a new page on your wiki and name it Web Research 4. You will write all your answers on this page.

2) I want you to continue to either think about a topic you'd like to research, or to visit Web sites related to something you are learning in school. If you can't think of anything, you must do this exercise. If you can, you must do your search according to the steps in this exercise.

3) Let's say you want to find some basic Web sites on entrepreneurship. A good place to find and overview of a subject like this would be a directory like the Internet Public Library. The Internet Public Library is a merger of two well-known directories created in the 1990s: the Internet Public Library and the Librarians' Internet Index.

The Internet Public Library is currently hosted by Drexel University's College of Information Science and Technology, and is maintained by Drexel and a consortium of universities that have graduate programs in library science.

It has a reference section, a children's section, a collection of resources for teens, and many others.

If you can't find what you're looking for, you can submit your question to a real librarian who will email the answer back to you.

You can browse the Internet Public Library or search its contents.

Browsing is sometimes the easiest way to find information; however, because the search tool doesn't search the contents of the resources, only the titles of the resources and annotations attached to them are searched.

In this activity, we'll first browse the Internet Public Library by subject, then we'll search it using a keyword. We'll follow these steps:

4) Browse the Internet Public Library

a. Go to Internet Public Library.

b. Click on **Resources by Subject**.

c. From the list of categories, click on **Business & Economics**.

d. Click on **Entrepreneurship**. The Internet Public Library gives us several evaluated Web sites dealing with entrepreneurship.

5) Now search the Internet Public Library by keyword.

a. Type **entrepreneurship** in the form that appears at the top of the page, and click on Search ipl2.

b. Browse the results of the search.

You can see from the preceding example that sometimes it is better to search a directory, because you may miss some useful resources if you browse by category only.

In this example, entrepreneurship resources were found in more than one subject category.

There are other times when browsing yields better results, because the search tool int eh ipl2 doesn't find words that are in the body of the Web pages.

The words indexed are in the Web pages' titles, their URLs, category titles, and their annotations.

Directories can be useful if you have a broad subject and aren't sure how to narrow down the search.

They are also helpful if you want to get a general idea about existing resources that will help you focus your topic, and are especially useful as starting points for research and evaluated information on a particular topic.


 * Summary:**

The Web is an immense collection of valuable information generated by such organizations as universities, corporations, hospitals, associations, and government agencies.

Most countries and several languages are represented on the Web.

In addition to this, hundreds of thousands of individuals, such as scholars, students, doctors, librarians, teachers, and virtually anyone who wants to contribute to this vast accumulation of resources, are adding their pages to the Web every day all over the world.

Finding information on the Web is becoming easier all the time.

There are two basic ways to accomplish it: You can either browse or search directories, or you can search by keyword in search engines.

Browsing directories can be a very effective way to find the resources you need, especially if you're sure of the general information you're seeking.

Directories index neither all of the pages in the Web nor all of the words that appear in the Web pages they catalog, however, if you need specific information, a search engine is the tool you'll want to use.

Search engine databases aim to cover as much of the Web as possible, and most of them index every word in each Web page.

A directory would be more likely used if we were looking for general information; for example. resources on the AIDS virus.

Directories depend on human beings to create and maintain their collections.

Directories are the best place to go to for subject guides, reference works, and specialized databases.

Some directories are similar to traditional libraries, in that the information specialists who manage them select and catalog the Web pages that are included in their directories, much as librarians select and catalog materials that are included in their libraries.

Search tools are beginning to offer new ways of finding and sharing information using Web 2.0 technologies.

For example, some search engines are using visuals and making it easy for the user to share useful Web sites with others.


 * Summary Activity:**

3-2-1

Name 3 new things you learned from the lesson.

Name 2 areas in which you are still confused.

Name 1 way you might apply what you've learned to another area.


 * Source:**

Hartman, K. and Ackerman, E. (2010). //Searching and researching on the Internet and the World Wide Web//. Sherwood, OR: Franklin, Beedle & Associates.