| Name |
| I. DECODING URL’S (Questions
1- 6) |
Examine the following URL’s and answer
the questions about each:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/html/handbook.html |
| 1) |
What is the server name for this Web page?
|
| 2) |
What type of organization is this server identified as?
|
| http://www.sfsu.edu/online/clssch.htm |
| 3) |
What is the server name for this Web page?
|
| 4) |
What type of organization is this server identified as?
|
| http://www.genentech.com/careers/college/internship.html |
| 5) |
What is the server name for this Web page?
|
| 6) |
What type of organization is this server identified as?
|
| II. SHORT ANSWER (Questions
7- 12) |
| 7) |
Name one of the Internet's strengths.
|
| 8) |
Name one of the Internet’s limitations.
|
| 9) |
Which part of the URL contains the domain name?
|
| 10) |
Why is it important to pay attention to the domain
name?
|
| 11) |
Name one thing that the Internet offers that libraries
do not.
|
| 12) |
Name one thing libraries offer that the Internet does not.
|
| III. SUBJECT DIRECTORY EXERCISE
(Questions 13- 17) |
As you know, subject directories are good starting
points when you’re looking for information on general
subjects, or if you want an overview of what’s available
on the Web on a given subject. Let’s assume you’re
interested in the general subject “astronomy.”
You know that you’ll have to eventually narrow this
into a focused research question. But for now, you’ve
decided to use a subject directory to see what’s available
on astronomy and possibly get some ideas for a narrower topic.
In order to find high-quality resources on this topic, you've
wisely decided to use a selective directory: The Librarians'
Index to the Internet.
- Click HERE
to connect to The Librarian’s Index to the Internet.
- Notice the general subject categories (starting with
“Arts & Humanities”) listed below a search
box. This is a typical organization for Web subject directories.
We can either browse through subject categories or do
a keyword search. Let's start by browsing subjects.
- Scroll down slightly and click on “Science.”
- You are brought to a screen that lists subtopics related
to science. Click on “Astronomy.”
(left column)
- You are brought to a screen listing subtopics related
to Astronomy. Let’s say you find planets interesting.
Click on "Planets" and you
will be brought to a list of Websites on the subject "Planets."
- At the top of the results page, it states: "Results
for planets …. "
|
| 13) |
What is the total number of Websites listed under "Planets"?
• Next, scroll down the list of results for “planets”
and scan the titles and descriptions of the sites. (The
title of each site is given at the start of the entry and
is underlined.)
• Let’s say you find Mars to be an interesting
planet given its geologic character and proximity to Earth.
From your results list, find two sites that focus specifically
and entirely on Mars.
|
| 14) |
From your results list, give the title
(not the URL) of a Website about Mars:
|
| 15) |
From your results list, give the title
(not the URL) of another Website about Mars:
• Now let's try the other approach to using a subject
directory -- keyword searching. The purpose of doing a keyword
search is to find Websites that browsing may have missed
due to the limitations of the directory subject categories.
• Scroll to the top of the page and click inside the
search entry box.
• Erase “planets” and
type "Mars." Click on the “SEARCH
LII.ORG” button.
|
| 16) |
How many Websites were found? (results are given on the
left)
• Scroll down the list of results and scan the titles
and descriptions of the sites.
|
| 17) |
As you know, there is always the possibility of false hits
when keyword searching. Give the title of a Website from
this list that is clearly a false hit, i.e. has nothing
whatsoever to do with the planet Mars.
• While scanning your results list, you notice a
Website entitled “NASA's Mars Exploration
Program." Click on that link to view this
Website.
•Click on "Overview" (on
the left).
• As you browse through this overview page, you notice
a section entitled "The Defining Question for
Mars Exploration: Life on Mars?" The thought
of life on Mars is something you find intersting, so you
read on.
•This section informs you that scientists are very
interested in knowing if liquid water exists or has
ever existed on Mars. It states that "water is key
because almost everywhere we find water on earth, we find
life."
• After reading through this information, you therefore
decide upon this focused research question:
What does recent evidence about water on Mars suggest
about the possibility of life there?
• Thus, by using a subject directory, you were able
to move from a general subject (astronomy) to a focused
question. Now that you have a focused question in mind,
it is time to continue our research using a search engine.
|
IV. SEARCH ENGINE EXERCISE
(Questions 18 – 25)
• Click HERE
to connect to Google, a Web search engine.
• You will be brought to the Google homepage.
The cursor should flashing inside the search entry box.
• Google states the number of Web pages
it claims to search near the bottom of this screen. |
| 18) |
How many Web pages does Google claim to search?
• Since we have a specific research question with
several concepts, a search engine is an appropriate tool.
We can divide our research question into 3 concepts:
Concept #1: Mars
Concept #2: life
Concept #3: water (H2O
can also be used for this concept)
[NOTE: To keep things simple, we won't come up with more
synonyms for our concepts.]
• Remember that before using any search engine, you
should learn about the specific search features used by
that engine. The help screens explain that:
* Google automatically assumes
that a typed space equals AND, meaning that you don't need
to type the connecting word "AND."
* If you're linking synonymous terms
together, you must type OR in uppercase.
• For our topic, therefore, we can type the words
for each of our three concepts with a space between each,
and an OR between "water" and "H2O".
Thus:
• In the search box, type: Mars life (water
OR H2O)
IMPORTANT: The "OR"
must be capitalized and the "O" in "H2O"
must be typed as the capital letter O.
• Click on the "Google
Search" button.
• You will be shown a results list, ranked by relevancy.
The first screen presents links to the first 10 Web pages.
The titles are underlined.
|
| 19) |
What is the total number of Web pages that Google
found?
(Hint: Look at the top of the results page. It says: "Results
1 - 10 of about .... " what number?)
• From the 1st page of your results list, click on
the page titled "Liquid Water and Life on Mars."
|
| 20) |
Who are the 2 authors of this page?
• Notice that this is a scholarly article that deals
directly with our research question. One idea that's emphasized
in the abstract of this article is that liquid water
(as opposed to frozen water) is believed to be crucial
for the possibility of life. Therefore, we can now focus
our search on Mars, life, and liquid water.
• Click on your browser’s Back button to go
back to the Google results page.
• Click in the search box at the top of the page
and change the search statement to:
Mars life "liquid water" and
click on the “Google Search” button.
IMPORTANT:
Be sure to put quotation marks around "liquid water"
because this tells the search engine to look for those two
words as a phrase -- rather than the 2 words anywhere on
the same Web page. Also, be sure to erase "OR
H2O."
|
| 21) |
What is the total number of hits that Google found
for this revised search?
• Scroll to the bottom of the first page of and click on page 8 of the results pages.
• Click on the Web page titled: "Mars Surprise.”
(Note: Because Google's results always change, you may have to go to the next or previous results page to find the "Mars Surprise” page.)
• Use this page to answer the following questions:
|
| 22) |
What is the date given at the start of the article text?
|
| 23) |
Look carefully at the URL. What is the server name?
|
| 24) |
Again looking at the URL, what is the domain name?
|
| 25) |
This page is just one page of a much larger Website. What
is the larger Website that this page is part of? (HINT: See
the logo to the left of the article title. This is a link
to the larger Website.)
|
V. RESEARCHING YOUR TOPIC
- FINDING WEB PAGES USING THE GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE
(Questions 26 – 30)
During this course, you have found encyclopedia articles,
books, and periodical articles on your topic. Your final
research effort is to find a Website or Web page on your
topic using the Google search engine.
|
| 26) |
Begin by typing in the box below the complete and exact
wording of your research question:
|
| 27) |
List the concepts of your research question. Use only the
number of boxes that you need.
CONCEPT #1:
CONCEPT #2:
CONCEPT #3:
CONCEPT #4:
• Write a search statement that combines search
terms for each of your concepts. To keep the search simple
and the results manageable, do not include more than 2 synonymous
terms for each concept. For example:
| Google Search Example:
Question: What steps – if any – should
the government take to censor hate speech on the Internet?
Concept #1: government censorship
Concept #2: hate speech
Concept #3: Internet
Search statement entered on Google:
”government censorship” “hate
speech” (internet OR “world wide web”)
|
|
| 28) |
Type in the box below your search statement. (You will
also type this into Google.)
IMPORTANT: Remember to type OR in
uppercase if you link two synonymous terms together. Remember
to put quotation marks (" ") around any phrases.
• Type your search statement in the Google search
entry box. Click on “Google Search.” |
| 29) |
What is the total number of pages that Google found
for your search?
|
| 30) |
Choose one Web page from your search results and provide
the following information. Make sure it’s relevant
to your topic! If you cannot find a relevant page, please
see instructor.
NOTE: If any of the following pieces
of information is not given, type "not available.”
Author(s) of the web page you've chosen:
Title of the Web page you’ve chosen:
Complete URL of the Web page you’ve
chosen:
Is the web page you've chosen part of a larger Website?
If so, what is the title of the larger
Website?
(NOTE: In some cases, the web page you've chosen may be
the home page for a Website. In these cases, the title of
the web page and the title of the website will be the same.)
Publication date of the Web page you've chosen:
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