Information+Literacy

=Top Tips for Web-based Research: 9B=

1. Narrowing down an internet search

 * Use keywords: AND, OR, NOT to narrow down your search - Bracken
 * Try a title field search to focus results more by subject. -Annice
 * To conduct specific research use google, altavista, and yahoo then in search box type, host: (org, com, sch, ac, etc.) then add in additional words by using "+" for websites that may contain the word. For example: host: mil + united states- En ping
 * To narrow down a search you can use advanced searches such as googles advanced search. From there you can use exact phrases to narrow down your search and look at similar sites. - Taylor
 * Use specialized search topics that match the area related to your topic so that all of your results are related to your topic- Audrey
 * Make sure that your information is accurate by checking the publishing date and comparing your information with other sources- Audrey
 * You can put quotation marks around your words so that your search will search for documents or web sights that contain those specific words-Garrett
 * Trim back sites and see if the site is reliable as an academic source or not. -Julia
 * type in "host: .edu" in a search engine to find websites that relate to higher education- Alicia
 * To make sure what you type in is a phrase instead of two seperate words, use " " Example: China Buildings will search: China and buildings "China buildings" will search: China buildings - Amanda
 * Break down the web address, and see if you can find the document or webpage from the homepage - Amanda
 * Use directories (especially ones provided by the school) to get more reliable and accurate websites. The schools web search engine also directs you to websites that are picked by teachers so they will be the most helpful. - Kimber
 * Be very specific.-Ben
 * Try to use a reliable search engine, and use many different keywords that can help identify what you are trying to search for. Search engines such as google or yahoo may be too much, so either a smaller web search engine or a school database may work. - Zach

2. Ways to evaluate a website's reliability

 * To find out who is linked to a Web site. [] (google and yahoo works too) then in the search box type, link: (web name)- En Ping
 * Look to see if it has any evidence to back up it's statements, such as realistic pictures, diagrams, historic artifacts (pictures of documents) that support it's information. -Annice
 * Look to see in the source if there is any evidence of fact or opinion.-Bracken.
 * Look if the web sight is through a university or school. Usually these sights will have many educational links making them a more reliable source.-Garrett
 * Find out who the author is and his background.-Joey
 * Look at the Vocabulary that is used that sometime can demonstrate if the website is reliable or not. -Joey
 * Check when the website was last edited or published to see whether the information is still relevant and accurate. - Alicia
 * Get more than 2 sources to verify that they are not biased. - Eduard
 * Check its references because they might have just made up the sites they supposedly sited from. Make sure those sites are reliable. - Kimber
 * Check the URL to see if it is a blog or hosted web domain such as geocities, if it is you might want to check it against other sources.-Ben
 * Check the URL if it has a tilde (~) it is a personal website.- Fatiah

3. Useful websites

 * Google University Search ([])- Jae Kyun
 * Google Advanced Search ([])- Fatiah
 * Google Directory Search ([]) -Julia
 * Easywhois (http://www.easywhois.com) Helps you find the ownership information for websites and also checks the websites reliability. - Taylor
 * Archive.org ([])- Eduard
 * Exalead search engine ([]) - Joaquina :)
 * Clusty Megasearch (search engine) ([]) - Joaquina
 * Internet Portal (search engine) [|http://ww.surffast.com] - Zach

=**Top Tips for Web-based Research: 9D**=

**1. Narrowing down an internet search**

 * Use "phrase searching" - Crystal
 * Trim back the URL - Theresia
 * Use subject directories (human selected websites that are related to certain topics provided) - Dong Beom
 * Look for .edu websites. These websites are written/edited/made by universities which makes the material more reliable and advanced. - Parth Patel
 * Understand what answer you are looking for to search more precise key words - Kevin Jou
 * Add the appropriate top level domain, ex: com for commercial; edu for educational, etc. -WANI :D
 * URL guess and checking: use the name, acronym, or brief name of the organization. - Maaaaarguerite =)
 * Use Boolean Logic to narrow down your search. E.g Or, AND, NOT (Must be in capital letters). -Alex
 * Use Google advanced search, you can put in the words you want to show up and the words you don't want to show up. -Judy
 * Use multiple steps to approach your answer-Rachel
 * Know whether you want a opinion or a fact. Then you can search up based off what you want. - Liam
 * Think of all the distracting pages that might also turn up, because of one or more of your search terms. - Hanut

**2. Ways to evaluate a website's reliability**
> -Kim
 * If the link to the site is from a reliable site it is probably trustworthy - Andrew
 * Check the date if it is recent - Crystal
 * Check if there are links to other reliable pages - Theresia
 * Look for an author, publisher, editor, etc. Look for his or her background information such as education and occupation to see if the website is written/edited by a reliable person. -Parth Patel
 * **Use the CARS checklist- (Credibility, Accuracy, Reasonableness, Support) -WANI :D**
 * **Read the comments made by other people and see if they accept the site or not. - Maaaaarguerite =)**
 * **What domain does the website come from. -Alex**
 * **Personal pages might be reliable but you need to be able to judge the information to see if it is right or wrong-Judy Wang**
 * **Check the history changes of this website to make sure is reliable or not. - Philip Gu .**
 * **Scan through the website. See if the information is reliable or not. - Caroline**
 * **Ask a series of questions --> decided how much a webpage can be trusted - Caroline** //(Caroline, please add some example questions to be more specific)**//
 * Make sure to check if the website is biased or not. You wouldn't be getting facts about people killed in the Rape of Nanking from a Japanese site.
 * See if the vocabulary and the language used in the website is formal.- Rachel
 * See if there are many grammatical errors or spelling mistakes, this means its a personal website and it might not be reliable - Liam
 * Is the author a well known author? - Hanut

3. Useful websites

 * Yahoo Directory Search ([|dir.yahoo.com]) - Dong Beom
 * Google Scholar Search (http://scholar.google.cn/) - Kevin Jou
 * Google Directory Search ([|directory.google.com]) - Philip Gu
 * Easywhois (http://www.easywhois.com) If you paste in the URL, this website checks who owns the website so you know if it's reliable or not - Kim