This document provides guidance on evaluating information found online. It discusses checking the domain and extension of URLs to determine reliability. It also recommends evaluating the content, checking for author information, and looking at links to and from the site. Tools like Whois and the Wayback Machine can be used to investigate ownership and past versions. Boolean operators and search commands like host: and url: can help narrow online searches.

1. Barbara De Santis
Sayreville Public School
October 2010

2. Approach for
evaluating
information
Search Strategies

3.  Alan November
 Link at
http://novemberlearning.com/resourc
es/information-literacy-resources/i-
information-literacy-quiz/

5. Read
the url
Evaluate
the
content
Ask
about
the
author
Look
at the
links

6. Domain?
Extension?
Personal?
▪www.domain.ext
Read the url

7. www.sayrevillek12.net
www.yahoo.com
www.nasa.gov
www.af.mil
What is the domain?

8. www.tcnj.edu
www.laurelhurst.pps.k12.or.us
www.nagoya-u.ac.j
www.ama-assn.org
What is the domain?

9. www.sayrevillek12.net
www.yahoo.com
www.nasa.gov
www.af.mil
What is the extension?

10. www.tcnj.edu
www.laurelhurst.pps.k12.or.us
www.nagoya-u.ac.j
www.ama-assn.org
What is the extension?

11. .k12 US schools .org Any
organization
.edu Educational
organization (within
US)
.gov Government
agency
.ac Academic
organization
(outside the US)
.net Network
.com Commercial .mil Military (US)
Handout ( popular extensions)

12. Some extensions are
more reliable than
others?
(i.e., .gov versus .com.)

13. zapatopi.net/treeoctopus.html
zapatopi.net/treeoctopus.html
The forward slash =
another directory
Use zapatopi.net as the entire domain.

14. ▪Name
▪~
▪%
▪Blog, users, members,
group
Personal Clues

15. www.blog.discoveryeducation.co
m/bsdbsd
www.tcnj.edu/~goglobal/undergra
duate/documents/StudyAbroadatT
CNJPDF.pdf
Is it personal?

16. Read the url
▪Domain?
▪Extension?
▪Personal?
Read Review

17. Does it make sense?
Match or conflict

18. Links
Updated?

19. Does it make sense?
Links
Updates

20. Writer?
Publisher?

23. www.easyWhois
Enter the domain
name -i.e.,
sayrevillek12.net

24. 1. Go to www.easyWhois.com

25. 2. Enter the entire domain
(including the extension)

26. 3.View results.

30. 1. Go to www.easywhois.com and enter the entire
domain in the search field.

32. www.easyWhois
Enter the domain
name

33. Links from the site
(forward links)
Links to the site
(back links)

34. Mouse over the link
See the url in the lower left
hand corner

35. Move your
mouse
over the
links.
Check url
in the
lower left
hand
corner.

39. Use the link command
in altavista
Go to
www.altavista.com

40. In the search box enter
link:entireurl (no spaces)
Example:
link:www.sayrevillek12.net
(include www and the entire
domain)

41. 1. Go to www.altavista.com

42. 2. Entire the complete url (includes
www.domain.ext) in the search window.

43. 3.View results.

46. Links from the site
 Mouse over and view
Links to the site
Use link command at
www.altavista.com

47. Wayback Machine
www.archive.org
Enter url
Look at past pages

48. 1. Go to www.archive.org

49. 2. Enter the url.

50. 3. Results. Select page to view.

51. Older
version
of MLK
page.

52. Read
the url
Evaluate
the
content
Ask
about
the
author
Look
at the
links

53.  All grades
 All About Explorers: http://www.allaboutexplorers.com
 California'sVelcro Crop under Challenge:
http://home.inreach.com/kumbach/velcro.html
 The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus: http://www.zapatopi.net/treeoctopus
 Dog Island Free Forever: http://www.thedogisland.com
 Victorian Robots: http://www.bigredhair.com/robots/index.html
 Middle /HS School
 Dihydrogen Monoxide: http://www.dhmo.org
 Feline Reactions to Bearded Men:
http://www.improbable.com/airchives/classical/cat/cat.html
 Clones R Us: http://www.d-b.net/dti/
 Dehydrated Water: http://www.buydehydratedwater.com/
 Petrol Direct: http://www.petroldirect.com/
 For you only
 Martin Luther King: http://www.martinlutherking.org (NOT for students)

54. Engine versus Directory
Who is on top?
Boolean operations
Special Commands

55. SEARCH ENGINE DIRECTORY

56. http://www.learnthenet.com/animated-internet/how-search-engines-work/index.php

58. SEARCH ENGINE DIRECTORY

59. How they work
(or which site goes
first?)

60. (but not this one!)

61. Paid (sponsored- at the top)
Search term is the url
Search term is in the title
Based on # links to the site
(different for each service)

62. The first link might not be
the best!

63. Boolean Operators
It is all in 3 little
words- and, or , not

67. Quintura
Searchcredible
SweetSearch
Google
Wonderwheel
Squared

71. Google Wonder Wheel

75. www.google.com/squared

77. If your search term does not
create a square, you have a
chance to add 5 terms and
then square it.

78. Virtual index
Use altavist.com- 2
types
Host (narrow)
url (broad)

79. Find all the pages
from a specific
domain
Narrow large sites

80. Here’s how
▪Searches based on extension
▪Can add key words
▪Example

81. You are looking for schools
in NJ.
1. www.altavista.com
2. In the search box, enter
host:k12.nj.us
(hint- No spaces)

83. You are looking student
lessons from NASA
1. www.altavista.com
2. In the search box, enter
host:nasa.gov + “student
lessons’’
(hint- space around the + sign)

85. 888,100
9,900
Responses
nasa.gov + student lessons host:nasa.gov + student lessons

86. nasa.gov +
student
lesson +
moon + k-3,
host:nasa.gov
+student
lessons + moon
+ k-3,

87. nasa.gov +
student
lessons +
moon + k-3,
host:nasa.gov
+student
lessons + moon
+ k-3,
4
2,436

88. Why?
Find all urls containing
your key words.
Wider response

89. Here’s how
▪Searches based on terms in
the url
▪Can add key words
▪Example

90.  You are looking for schools with butterfly
gardens.
1. www.altavista.com
2. In the search box, enter
url:k12 + butterfly
Words in the url might include k12

91. Using url:k12 will include
all web addresses
including k12 (not just
using it as an extension)
Larger number of
responses

95.  http://blogs.webmd.com/eye-on-
vision/uploaded_images/child-with-glasses-
istock-747730.jpg
 http://www.we-teach-
reading.com/images/bigstockphoto_child_typin
g_message_from_lapt_2051542.jpg
 think
http://www.quickandsimple.com/cm/quickandsi
mple/images/ST/child-homework-istock-de.jpg
 http://2013readsandreacts.files.wordpress.com/
2010/01/depressed-child1_2112.jpg