Searching the Web

How to Search the Web - Some tips for beginners, including useful information on what search engines can and can't do for you.

Popular Search engines - Descriptions and links to some of the most popular search engines, along with some tips on how to use them.

New to the internet? Before you start searching, you may want to check out these on-line internet lessons offered by the Ann Arbor District Library. The site has good practical help (for using and searching the web, and free email), as well as lots of background information and links to other useful sites.

If you're bored, need to do complicated web research, or just want to know a lot of gory details about using search engines effectively, check out this Searching Tutorial from the UC Berkeley Library.

Evaluating Information

A useful site to start with: truth, lies, and the Internet on CNET.

Some standards of my own (Anitra Freeman speaking):

Check whether the author has identified the source of her information, with enough detail that you can find the source and check the data yourself.
Ask the old journalism questions: Who, What, When, Where. If the story has no concrete details for those, it is suspect. "A man on a Paris beach burst into flames one morning last week" gives you no possible way to check up on the information, and is therefore safely categorized as tripe.
Never trust anyone who says she is unbiased. Only trust people who let you know their biases up front.
Always check everything important with at least two sources who have opposite biases. Play them off against each other and see what sorts out in the middle.
Bill Yerazunis adds: "Books are good, research papers are fine, but if you get the chance, run the experiment anyway and see what results you get."

Your turn! Your choice!

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