Driver's Ed for the Information Superhighway

TASS 2004

Presentation PowerPoint

Websearch Blog
For Newbies (Net Novices)
 Search Tips

The Google Page

The Yahoo! Search Page

My (other) Favorite Search Engines
The Invisible Web or Deep Web
Reviewed Subject Directories
Academic Resources
Useful Sites
Evaluating Internet Resources

For Newbies

A Note to Absolute Beginners: If everything on the Web is brand new to you, check out ICYouSee Guide to the World Wide Web: Three Basic Lessons.

Beginner's Central "Created by Northern Webs, a Web design studio in Idaho, this online tutorial is aimed at the Internet newbie. Divided into several chapters, the tutorial guides users through the basic concepts and practical details of using the Internet. Topics include file downloading, email and news reader configuration and operation (on the two major browsers), FTP and Telnet basics, and Internet myths. A summary and brief quiz conclude each chapter." The Scout Report

Browser Tutorial What is a browser? Where do you get one? Learn basic navigational techniques of a Web Browser (Netscape or Internet Explorer) and become familiar with the Internet as a global information network. From the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library and the Utah Academic Library Consortium (UALC).

ICYouSee Guide to the World Wide Web "One of the best introductions to using the Internet I've seen yet. Among the seven basic sections are: What Do They Mean By That? (a glossary); Is the WWW a Good Research Tool (a guide to critical thinking); How Can You Find Anything? (Subject Indexes, Search Engines, Multiple Access, and Evaluative Tools); and What Went Wrong? (a problem-solving guide). What makes it so great is the well-written and humorous discussion of all the above. Designed by staff of the Ithaca College Library to serve as a self-guided tutorial." Librarians' Index to the Internet

Internet 101: Tutorial for Beginners From About.com:

Part 1: The Frustrations of Not Understanding the Internet
Part 2: Internet "Surfing" is Actually "Scuba Diving"...
Part 3: "I Want to Become a Power Internet User!"

Internet Explorer Tutorial from Eastern Illinois University.

Walt Howe's Internet Learning Tree This is a set of Frequently Asked Questions and answers that makes it easy for beginners to learn to use the Internet and the WWW. Each basic question branches to another set of questions and answer. It also includes an Internet Glossary and a brief Internet History. It is one of the first places to look when you need help.

What is the Internet, the WWW, and Netscape? An excellent introduction from Joe Barker, the Teaching Library Internet Instruction Program Coordinator, UC Berkeley - Teaching Library Internet Workshops.

Betsy Thorp's Links for Newbies

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Search Tips

When and How To Search the Net by Marylaine Block, creator of Best Information on the Net.

Don't use the Search button on Internet Explorer or Netscape; choose the best engine for your purpose from Debbie Abilock of NoodleTools.

From Joe Barker, the Teaching Library Internet Instruction Program Coordinator, UC Berkeley - Teaching Library Internet Workshops.:

    1. Things to Know Before You Begin Searching.
    2. Recommended Search Strategy: Analyze your topic & Search with peripheral vision.
    3. Recommended Search Engines: Table of Features

A Modular Approach to Teaching/Learning the World Wide Web This pyramid consists of eight self-contained modules which can be used for Web instruction:

The materials were designed by Mike Powell, Marsha Tate, and Jan Alexander, Reference Librarians at the Wolfgram Memorial Library, Widener University as the basis for a President's Showcase of Ideas poster session at the June, 1997 American Library Association Conference in San Francisco.

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My (other) Favorite Search Engines

AltaVista's Babel Fish (Translations Page): "Turn global languages into your native tongue in minutes. This service translates words, phrases, and entire Web sites into a variety of different languages." [currently to/from English and Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese & Spanish as well as French to German, German to French and Russian to English] Help

Ask Jeeves! Type in a question: What is a blog? Best for who, what, where, when, or why questions. Help

Soople-easy expert search- "Soople is an early English dialect, which means 'to soften, make supple'. That's exactly what I envisioned for this site; a site that softens all the fantastic (advanced) functions Google offers. Initially I made this site for my mother, who, though computer-savvy, still didn't know about all the possibilities Google offers. This site is therefore meant for all those who are not yet familiar with all the functions and required syntaxes. This way Soople enables an 'easy expert search'!"

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The Invisible Web or Deep Web

According to Web search guru Gary Price, of Gary Price Library & Internet Research Consulting, creator of direct search (below in Subject Directories): "The Invisible Web is a vast part of the Internet that the search engines can't—or simply don't—include in their indexes of the Web. The Invisible Web is gaining more and more attention these days, and rightly so. A study by BrightPlanet puts the size of the Invisible Web at 400 to 550 times larger than the visible Web."

CompletePlanet BrightPlanet Corporation's site contains "89,000 searchable databases &
specialty search engines."

Choosing Invisible Web Databases from Debbie Abilock of NoodleTools.

DisInformation "With the slogan: 'Information is Power' this is the search service of choice for individuals looking for information on current affairs, politics, new science and the 'hidden information,' that seldom appears in the corporate owned media conglomerates. A selected database, some accompanied with short reviews, from quality news sources and Web sites found interesting, provocative and essential." Librarians' Index to the Internet

Gateway to the Invisible Web From Chris Sherman, Associate Editor, Search Engine Watch and former About.com Web Search guide. SearchDay. December 4, 2001 - Number 152. "The Invisible Web is an enchanted realm for searchers, but only if you know how to access its abundant treasures. The Resource Discovery Network (RDN) is an outstanding gateway to thousands of Invisible Web sites that's as close to a search engine for the hidden web as you're likely to find."

Invisible Web - Hidden Sites and Content From About.com Web Search Guide Jennifer Laycock: "The Invisible Web or the deep Web is the vast hidden store of searchable databases that are publicly accessible but not indexed by major search engines for technical reasons."

The Invisible Web: Uncovering Information Sources Search Engines Can't See, written by Gary Price and Chris Sherman, is a 439 page volume covering everything they know about the web's hidden treasures. The book takes a detailed look at the nature and extent of the Invisible Web, and offers pathfinders for accessing the valuable information it contains. They include a history of Web search engines, a detailed examination of what the Invisible web is (and is not), show you how to find your own way around the Invisible web, and include links and descriptions of more than 1,000 Invisible Web resources that they consider to be among the very best on the Net. Coming from these experts, I recommend their popular book and its accompanying site for locating some of the Web's hidden content.

Invisible-web.net

The companion site for the book, including the directory of Invisible web resources. An overview, the book's introduction and table of contents, and all of chapter 12 are also available.

Invisible Web: What it is, Why it exists, How to find it, and Its inherent ambiguity From Joe Barker, the Teaching Library Internet Instruction Program Coordinator, UC Berkeley - Teaching Library Internet Workshops. "The 'visible web' is what you see in the results pages from general web search engines. It's also what you see in almost all subject directories. The 'invisible web' is what you cannot retrieve ("see") in the search results and other links contained in these types of tools."

Navigating the Invisible Web From Chris Sherman, Associate Editor, Search Engine Watch and former About.com Web Search guide. SearchDay. October 23, 2001 - Number 122. "You've likely heard the phrase 'Invisible Web' over the past year. In a nutshell, the Invisible Web consists of material that general-purpose search engines either can not, or perhaps more importantly, will not include in their collections of Web pages. It's not that the search engines and Web directories are 'stupid' or even badly engineered. Rather, they simply can't 'see' millions of high-quality resources that are available exclusively on the Invisible Web."

Profusion From Intelliseek, who first gave us The InvisibleWeb.com directory, ProFusion is their updated meta-search engine that lets you select your own subject category of collected search engines and subject directories, allowing you to "target your search by drilling into one of [their] vertical search groups."

Resource Discovery Network (RDN) "The RDN is a collaboration of over seventy educational and research organisations, including the Natural History Museum and the British Library.

In contrast to search engines, the RDN gathers resources which are carefully selected, indexed and described by specialists in our partner institutions. You can be confident that your search results and browsing will connect you to Web sites relevant to learning, teaching and research."

Those Dark Hiding Places: The Invisible Web Revealed From Robert J. Lackie, Assistant Professor-Librarian, Rider University. "If only I had known! was the bitter cry of the searcher who relied just on search engines to search the Web. Although many popular search engines boast about their ability to index information on the Web, more of it (dynamically-generated pages, certain file formats, and numerous databases) is becoming invisible to their searching spiders. Much of the Web is hiding information from us, but we can access this hidden content! Learn how you can reveal the secrets of these dark, hiding places."

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Reviewed Subject Directories

About.com: "Each About.com GuideSite is devoted to a single topic - complete with site reviews, feature articles and discussion areas - and each site is created by a qualified About.com Guide, a company-certified subject specialist who's responsible for helping you get the most out of your time online."

Digital Librarian: a librarian's choice of the best of the Web.

Google Web Directory

Librarians' Index to the Internet, "a searchable, annotated subject directory of more than 4,300 Internet resources selected and evaluated by librarians for their usefulness to the public library user's information needs. It's meant to be used by both librarians and non-librarians as a reliable and efficient guide to described and evaluated Internet resources."

Open Directory "The Web site guide used by Google, HotBot, and Lycos to enhance their sites. The indexers are thousands of volunteers who sign up to add Web sites by interest area. Currently more than 2 million entries in close to 400,000 categories." Librarians' Index to the Internet

The Scout Report "is the flagship publication of the Internet Scout Project. Published every Friday both on the web and by email, it provides a fast, convenient way to stay informed of valuable resources on the Internet. Our team of professional librarians and subject matter experts select, research, and annotate each resource.

Published continuously since 1994, the Scout Report is one of the Internet's oldest and most respected publications. The Internet Scout Project is located in the Department of Computer Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation."

The WWW Virtual Library: "The VL is the oldest catalog of the web, started by Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the web itself. Unlike commercial catalogs, it is run by a loose confederation of volunteers, who compile pages of key links for particular areas in which they are expert; even though it isn't the biggest index of the web, the VL pages are widely recognised as being amongst the highest-quality guides to particular sections of the web."

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Academic Resources

Academic Info College and research level (also useful for high school) Internet resources selected and annotated by librarian Michael Madin. Can browse by subject. Links to college degree programs, test prep. sites, reference resources, and other resources of value to students.

Academic Links, an award-winning site by Oxford Philosophy professor Peter J. King.

Best Information on the Net "Browse current 'hot' topics alphabetically or by major course of study. Includes student and faculty resources, online reference works, disability resources, links to current events sites, and resources for librarians. Maintained by the O'Keefe Library, St. Ambrose University (Iowa)." Librarians' Index to the Internet

BUBL LINK "This excellent subject directory (focused on British Internet resources) is searchable, and is organized by the Dewey Decimal Classification, making it one of the largest DDC Internet subject directories available. It is a well organized site, with brief annotations." Librarians' Index to the Internet

CMC Information Sources "Also known as The December List, this is a directory of information sources about online communication and the Internet. Collects, organizes, and presents information describing the Internet and Computer-Mediated Communication technologies, applications, culture, discussion forums, and bibliographies. See his Top of the Web section for an informative and opinionated guide to the best of the Web's resources." Librarians' Index to the Internet

Cyber Times Navigator "Navigator is the home page used by the newsroom of The New York Times for forays into the Web." "Designed for reporters and editors, this selective list provides briefly annotated links and is updated frequently. Covers areas such as search engines, sites with materials for journalists, reference sources, telephone directories, online publications, politics, New York, commerce, entertainment, and sports. Requires free registration." Librarians' Index to the Internet

direct search Gary Price is one of the foremost authorities on invaluable Invisible Web resources
and has assembled a massive collection at this site. Price's direct search is a growing compilation of links to the search interfaces of resources that contain data not easily or entirely
searchable/accessible from general search tools like Alta Vista, Google, or Hotbot. Although these "general" tools are essential for the retrieval of Internet based data, searchers often fail to realize that a massive amount of information is not easily or entirely searchable/accessible via these search tools. Material "hidden" from the general search tools is said to reside on the Invisible Web.

eHistory includes over 130,000 pages of historical content; 5,300 timeline events; 800 battle outlines; 350 biographies; and thousands of images and maps.

Faculty Resources from St. Ambrose University.

Indexes, Abstracts, Bibliographies, and Table of Contents Services "Links to many different services that 'will help people locate journal, magazine, and newspaper articles; research papers; preprints; proceedings and transactions; book chapters; and similar materials.' Resources in twenty-four subjects are arranged under the broad topics: Arts & Humanities; Sciences & Technology; and Social Sciences. Maintained by the University of Houston Libraries." Librarians' Index to the Internet

INFOMINE: Scholarly Internet Resource Collections "A multi-disciplined, annotated directory of tens of thousands of links to 'university level research and educational tools on the Internet.' Includes 'databases, electronic journals, electronic books, bulletin boards, mailing lists, online library card catalogs, articles ... [and] other types of information.' Tens of thousands of records, some created by librarians, others generated by robot-crawlers. Searchable and browsable. From the University of California, Riverside." Librarians' Index to the Internet

MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching) "is a community of educators in higher education who collaborate to develop and disseminate high quality online resources for faculty to incorporate into their courses. But, MERLOT is not just about online resources, it is also about the people who help create, use and evaluate those resources. MERLOT's members are mainly faculty and instructors, however, many campus administrators, faculty developers, librarians and other members of higher education who are concerned with online learning resources, technology, teaching and learning, and innovation have also joined MERLOT."

MIT's OpenCourseWare, "500 Courses Now Available. With the publication of 500 courses, MIT OCW offers educational materials from 33 academic disciplines and all five of MIT's schools...a free and open educational resource for faculty, students, and self-learners around the world. OCW supports MIT's mission to advance knowledge and education, and serve the world in the 21st century. It is true to MIT's values of excellence, innovation, and leadership.

MIT OCW:

Multidisciplinary WWW Subject Directories for Scholars from the University of Houston Libraries.

"Welcome to NoodleLinks, the database of academic bibliographies. Whether you need a few good resources for your research paper or you're still just trying to think of a good topic, NoodleLinks can help! Browse by category or search by keyword for bibliographies written by researchers around the world on hundreds of topics."

RDN: Resource Discovery Network "This searchable directory 'provides access to a series of Internet resource catalogues containing descriptions of high quality Internet sites, selected and described by specialists from within UK academia and affiliated organisations.' Additional services include: Behind the Headlines, 'Selected RDN resources offering background information related to the latest headlines,' and the Virtual Training Suite, 'a set of online tutorials designed to help students, lecturers and researchers improve their Internet information skills'." Librarians' Index to the Internet

Refdesk "The Internet is the world's largest library containing millions of books, artifacts, images, documents, maps, etc. There is but one small problem in this library: everything is scattered about on the floor, with growing hordes of confused and bewildered users frantically shifting through the maze, occasionally crying out, 'Great Scott, look at what I just found!' Enter refdesk." Award-winning site from Bob Drudge, Matt's father.

Syllabus Finder from George Mason University, Center for History and New Media: "Searching 291,348 syllabi at the Center for History and New Media and over 500,000 syllabi via Google."

Voice of the Shuttle "Its mission has been to provide a structured and briefly annotated guide to online resources that at once respects the established humanities disciplines in their professional organization and points toward the transformation of those disciplines as they interact with the sciences and social sciences and with new digital media. VoS emphasizes both primary and secondary (or theoretical) resources, and defines its audience as people who have something to learn from a higher-education, professional approach to the humanities (which in practice has included students and instructors from the elementary school, high school, and general population sectors)."

The World Lecture Hall, from the University of Texas at Austin, Center for Instructional Technologies: "...publishes links to pages created by faculty worldwide who are using the Web to deliver course materials in any language. Some courses are delivered entirely over the Internet. Others are designed for students in residence. Many fall somewhere in between. In all cases, they can be visited by anyone interested in courseware on the Internet — faculty, developers, and curious students alike. WLH has 83 categories to browse, not to mention locating systems such as our Find a Course and Advanced Search utilities."

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Useful Sites

CEO Express Not for CEOs only!

WebRing: Started by 17-year-old Sage Weil, there is a ring for every subject you might find on the Web -- from art and culture to health and entertainment, from Windows and Unix to Fords and Chevys. On WebRing, similar sites are grouped together in rings and each site is linked to another by a simple navigation bar. Each Ring is created and maintained by an individual web site owner called the RingMaster. RingMasters determine the look and feel of the Ring, approve and manage member sites, and encourage other sites to join. RingMasters help to develop virtual communities based on the Ring topic. WebRing is free and easy. To find, join, or create a Ring, just follow the links on WebRing Home.

Yahoo!, probably the best-known Subject Directory, was started by David Filo and Jerry Yang, Ph.D. candidates in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, in April 1994, as a way to keep track of their personal interests on the Internet.

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The above cartoon by Peter Steiner has been reproduced from page 61 of July 5, 1993 issue of The New Yorker, (Vol.69 (LXIX) no. 20) only for academic discussion, evaluation, and research and complies with the copyright law of the United States as defined and stipulated under Title 17 U. S. Code.

Evaluating Internet Resources

Bibliography on Evaluating Web Information This bibliography, originally created for a panel discussion at a regional conference in Wisconsin by Nicole J. Auer, Librarian for First-Year and Outreach, University Libraries at Virginia Tech, has grown with the increasing number of documents which address the problems and issues related to teaching and using critical thinking skills to evaluate Internet resources.

Evaluating Internet Research Sources by Robert Harris, a writer and educator with more than 25 years of teaching experience at the college and university level.

Evaluating Internet Resources from St. Norbert College.

Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask, University of California, Berkeley. One of the Teaching Library Internet Workshops. This site provides a tutorial for evaluation of web sites.

Evaluating Web Resources by Jan Alexander and Marsha Ann Tate. Widener University. This site includes an online tutorial and is intended to

  1. Provide materials to assist in teaching how to evaluate the informational content of Web
    resources.

  2. Provide a bibliography of materials on applying critical thinking techniques to Web resources.

Evaluation of information sources. Information Quality WWW Virtual Library. This page contains pointers to criteria for evaluating information resources, particularly those on the Internet. It is
intended to be particularly useful to librarians and others who are selecting sites to include in an information resource guide, or informing users as to the qualities they should use in evaluating
Internet information.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: or, Why It's a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Sources by
Susan E. Beck, Head, Reference & Research Services Department, New Mexico State University.

Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators: Critical Evaluation Information Includes several of her publications on the subject.

Ten C's For Evaluating Internet Sources by Betsy Richmond, University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire.

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Betsy's Links on Teaching Introduction to the Web

Activities for Beginners
Other Favorites

Computers in our Future (CIOF): Curriculum & Instruction Resources Particularly useful: provides proposed learning objectives for workshops including Introduction to Computers and Intro to the Internet. See also links with interesting sites for new computer users to visit.

RTPnet's Lesson Plans and Resources RTPnet is a community network in North Carolina's
research triangle. This site offers excellent lesson plans that boil things down to the basics. Great resource for anyone teaching Computers for Beginners or Internet Intros. Also offers handouts that can be used to refresh workshop learning or as self-guided exercises with some coaching. See: Getting around on a Computer and Exploring the Internet as good starting points.

University at Albany Libraries Internet Tutorials See A Basic Guide to the Internet and
Understanding the World Wide Web sections for ideas on how to present materials. Depending on the level of your students, some information may be more in depth than is needed. The link on How to Copy and Paste from a Web Page to Windows WordPad offers clear instructions and could be used to lead a fun exercise like copying recipes or poems from the web and reformatting in word.

webTeacher: TECH CORPS Source for web curriculum. Though designed for K-12 use, the web basics section has some useful explanations of urls and web navigation for newbies.

TechSoup: Articles: A Brief History of the Internet TechSoup offers technology resources to non-profits including some interesting articles and links for anyone teaching Intro to the Web. See links to related articles.

The HelpWeb This site may not be as up-to-date as some, but its friendly language and graphics may give some ideas about how to present certain Internet topics to newbies.

Matisse Enzner’s Glossary of Internet Terms

Activities for Beginners:

Learners Online's Weekly Online Lesson & Archive I often used the Learners Online site for some guided exploration time during a web intro class. Students can select a topic of interest from the archives and explore a range of resources from around the world on selected topics.

Learn The Net.com

Internet Vocabulary Games on Quia

Mousercise A fun site to help students master basic mouse skills before exploring the Internet.

Other favorites:

YouthLearn Techniques for integrating technology into youth programs.

The Alliance for Technology Access ATA's page on designing and understanding accessible web pages.

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Page created by Susan Herzog
Last update: March 16, 2004