This PowerPoint was created for the Fall 2015 TLC Class taught by Luci Creery. Creator: Jana Comerford, Amarillo College Library

1. INTERNET SEARCHING:
THE SURVEILLANCE SOCIETY
Amarillo College Library

2. Using Information Effectively
Section 1
“Getting information off the
Internet is like taking a drink
from a fire hydrant.”
– Mitchell Kapor

3. Why do students need information literacy?
Information literacy is the ability to perform these tasks:
• To identify what information is needed.
• To understand how information sources are organized.
• To identify the best sources of information for a particular need.
• To locate those sources.
• To use the information ethically, e.g., citing sources accurately.
• To evaluate the sources critically.
• To share that information.
Source: University of Idaho Information Literacy Portal (adapted)

4. Why do citizens need information literacy?
Citizens must constantly make important decisions in all areas of life:
College
Places to live
Careers
Retirement
Taxes
Etc., etc., etc.
Purchases
Voting
Medical issues
Parenting
Finances
Buying a home
When you have to make an important decision, where will you look?

5. Evaluating Web Sites
Section 2

6. Does the Web site look serious?
• What does the appearance
of the page tell you?
• Does it look professional
or amateurish?
• Is there advertising on the
page?
• What kind of advertising?
• How does it affect the
quality of the information?

7. Does the Web site look serious? (continued)
• What kind of tone does
the article have?
• Is it well-written?
• Are there paragraphs?
How’s the grammar and
spelling? Are there any
typos?
• Does the text make
sense?
Privacy is mostly an illusion. A useful illusion, no question about it, one
that allows us to live without being paralyzed by self-consciousness. The
illusion of privacy gives us room to be fully human, sharing intimacies and
risking mistakes. But all the while, the line between private and public
space is as porous as tissue paper. The adulterous couple sneaking off to a
hotel: Is someone following them? The teenagers skipping school to visit
the mall: Will they bump into a woman from Mom’s book club? The
solitary motorist thrashing an air guitar at a traffic light: Will the driver in
the next lane look over? Like children of a certain age who think closing
their eyes will make them invisible, we assume that no one sees or hears
our private moments, and we’re right—until someone watches or listens.
This was true long before the National Security Agency began collecting
our telephone and Internet records from technology and communications
companies, and long before the House of Representatives on July 24 gave
a fresh thumbs-up to further NSA collections by a narrow 12-vote margin,
217-205. It was true long before a military judge found Private Bradley
Manning guilty of espionage for his role in the WikiLeaks case—but
acquitted him on the charge of aiding the enemy—on July 30.

8. Does the Web site look serious? (continued)
• Busy and unattractive.
• No information on qualifications.
• No details on issue positions.
• No information on intentions.
• No mechanism for online donations.
• Attractive appearance. Good photo.
• “Why I’m running” featured.
• Link to learn more about him.
• Link to learn more about his position on issues.
• Links for contributions and volunteers.

9. Who wrote this?
• “Von Drehle received a B.A. from the
University of Denver and a Master of
Letters degree from Oxford. “
Time.com Web site.
• Editor-at-Large page on Time.com
site.
• Author page on MacMillan Publishers
Web site.
• Author page on Amazon.com.
• Author page on Goodreads.com.
• Is there an author?
• Does the author offer any
credentials?
• Is the author an expert or an
amateur?
• Is there a link or included
information about the author?
• Google the author.
• Google the author’s employer.
• Google awards author has won.
• Check Amazon.com.

10. Who is the sponsor of this Web site?
• Does a particular organization
provide the Web site where the article
was posted?
• Is the sponsor of the site a reputable
organization or a special-interest
group that has an obvious bias? How
do you know?
• Is there a link or included information
about the sponsoring organization?
• Does the organization provide a
mission statement?
• Read “About us” or similar section.
What do they say about themselves? What do others say about them?

11. Who is the sponsor of this Web site? (continued)
Top-Level Domains
edu = U.S. post-secondary educational institutions accredited by an agency on the U.S.
Department of Education's list of Nationally Recognized Accrediting Agencies.
A tilde symbol ( ~ ) in the URL indicates that page is that of an individual.
http://www.actx.edu/~jkcomerford
gov = Government institutions
mil = Military
tx.edu or texas.gov = Texas state government institutions
org = Generic
net = Generic
com = Commercial

12. Who is the sponsor of this Web site? (continued)
Countries:
United Kingdom = uk Example: www.parliament.uk
Canada = ca
Australia = au
New Zealand = nz
Germany = de
Photo source: https://emmer.house.gov/issues/foreign-affairs

13. When was the information written?
• Is there a publication date or
copyright date or last updated date
at the beginning or end of the
article?
• If there’s no date on the article, is
there a date on the site’s home
page?
• If there’s no date on the article or
site home page, can you verify how
current the site is from the text or
topic of the article?
Page 1
Page 4

14. Why was this Web site published?
• As a public service? To educate? As
entertainment? To sell something? To
convince you of something?
• Is the information biased? Is this a bad
thing?

15. Americans’ Confidence in News Media, 1994-2014 (Gallup Polls)

16. Choose Web sites for research wisely.
Web sites to AVOID for serious research:
• Wikipedia et al.
• About.com et al.
• eHOW
• Personal blogs
• Forums
• Satirical sites

17. “Limiting our ideas
solely to those that
are easily found online
does little to advance
our abilities to create
knowledge from
information. In this way, tools like
Google may be making us dumber.”
Dr. Ryan Watkins
George Washington University
Public
Search
Engines
Section 3

18. Top 10 public search engines as of October 2015

19. Google Advanced Search: First section
tricolor rat terrier
“rat terrier”
miniature OR standard
-rodent –”jack russell”
10 lb 20 lb

20. Google Advanced Search: Second section

21. Google search limited by domain: gov, edu

22. Google Scholar
Problems:
• Old information
• Lack of full text
• Limited coverage
• Payment sometimes required. Don’t pay for articles!

23. Are you saying I shouldn’t use Google?
Pros:
• Often good resource
for informal research
or simple look-ups
• Easy to use
• Fast results
• Natural Language
• Free
Cons:
• Information overload
• Users determine ranking.
• Few full-text academic resources
• Advertisements
The answer is,
“It depends.”

24. Public Search
Engine Search
Techniques
Section 4

25. Plan your search. Think carefully.
Step 1: Write your topic as a statement or a question.
Should employers have the right to monitor employees’ email?
Step 2: Identify the main ideas of your topic. Keep it simple.
Should employers have the right to monitor employees’ email?
Step 3: Think of synonyms or other words you could use for the same topic.
Employers – Bosses, supervisors, workplace, “big brother”
Employees – Workers, subordinates, staff
Email – ?
Implied – Privacy, rights, monitor
Don’t forget to enclose phrases in quotation marks!

26. Using the Boolean connector “or” in Google.
employer OR supervisor OR boss employee OR subordinate OR
worker email
• 9 Ways Your Employer Can Legally Spy On You
• Workforce Surveillance: Is Your Boss Keeping a Private Eye on You?
• Should Companies Monitor Their Employees' Social Media?
• With Nowhere to Hide: Workers are Scrambling for Privacy
• Monitoring Employee E-Mail and Internet Usage
• Your Boss Is Watching | PCWorld
• Do employers have a right to spy on workers?

27. • Keep in mind that you are not talking to a person.
• Too wordy. Every search term you include reduces the number of articles
that will meet your requirements.
• Users should identify the main concepts and use them as search terms.
• Sometimes search terms are implied and don’t have to be included.
Doesn’t “surveillance” imply humanity?
• Search with just “surveillance” in addition to searching for “surveillance
society.”
Would this be an effective search?

28. Green, Joshua. “The Rove Presidency.” The Atlantic.com. Atlantic
Monthly Group, Sept. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
Quade, Alex. “Elite Team Rescues Troops behind Enemy Lines.”
CNN.com. Cable News Network, 19 Mar. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
“The Scientists Speak.” Editorial. New York Times. New York Times, 20
Nov. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
MLA examples – Author/No author

29. Green, Joshua. “The Rove Presidency.” The Atlantic.com. Atlantic
Monthly Group, Sept. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
Quade, Alex. “Elite Team Rescues Troops behind Enemy Lines.”
CNN.com. Cable News Network, 19 Mar. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
“The Scientists Speak.” Editorial. New York Times. New York Times, 20
Nov. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
MLA examples – Editorial/Article title

30. Green, Joshua. “The Rove Presidency.” The Atlantic.com. Atlantic
Monthly Group, Sept. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
Quade, Alex. “Elite Team Rescues Troops behind Enemy Lines.”
CNN.com. Cable News Network, 19 Mar. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
“The Scientists Speak.” Editorial. New York Times. New York Times, 20
Nov. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
MLA examples – Name of Web site

31. Green, Joshua. “The Rove Presidency.” The Atlantic.com. Atlantic
Monthly Group, Sept. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
Quade, Alex. “Elite Team Rescues Troops behind Enemy Lines.”
CNN.com. Cable News Network, 19 Mar. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
“The Scientists Speak.” Editorial. New York Times. New York Times, 20
Nov. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
MLA examples – Sponsor

32. Green, Joshua. “The Rove Presidency.” The Atlantic.com. Atlantic
Monthly Group, Sept. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
Quade, Alex. “Elite Team Rescues Troops behind Enemy Lines.”
CNN.com. Cable News Network, 19 Mar. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
“The Scientists Speak.” Editorial. New York Times. New York Times, 20
Nov. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
MLA examples – Publication date

33. Green, Joshua. “The Rove Presidency.” The Atlantic.com. Atlantic
Monthly Group, Sept. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
Quade, Alex. “Elite Team Rescues Troops behind Enemy Lines.”
CNN.com. Cable News Network, 19 Mar. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
“The Scientists Speak.” Editorial. New York Times. New York Times, 20
Nov. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
MLA examples – Medium

34. Green, Joshua. “The Rove Presidency.” The Atlantic.com. Atlantic
Monthly Group, Sept. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
Quade, Alex. “Elite Team Rescues Troops behind Enemy Lines.”
CNN.com. Cable News Network, 19 Mar. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
“The Scientists Speak.” Editorial. New York Times. New York Times, 20
Nov. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
MLA examples – Retrieval date

35. The End