Go beyond searching for obscure facts: Build websites; sell on auction sites; and blog. Your child can learn nearly every subject under the sun by taking part in these activities. Susan K. Stewart has over 30 years of computer experience and used the Internet in her homeschool during most of the teaching years. She manages her own websites and blogs and shares ideas for using the Internet that go beyond Google.

1. Susan K. Stewart
http://delicious.com/internet_at_home
www.slideshare.net/skstewart

2.  It’s not the savior of anything
 There’s bad stuff
 Pornography
 Evil People
 Viruses
 Spyware
 Urban Myths
 Cyber-bullying

3.  Would you say in person? In front of your
mother?
 Is it true? How do you know?
 CAPITAL LETTERS are shouting.
 Don’t send an email when angry.

4.  Don’t hide behind fake names
 Don’t steal someone else’s writing – even from
an email
 Don’t steal computer programs, music, or
videos
 Don’t hack a web site

12.  Index or Directory
 Google Directory
 Yahoo Directory
 Search Engine
 Metasearch
 Metacrawler
 Specialty Directory (topic specific)
 Expert Guide
 Library

13.  Think through the task
 What is the real question?
 Think outside the box
 Move beyond keywords to thoughts
 Look elsewhere
 Do offline research first
 Be specific
 Civil War - Confederacy – Robert E. Lee
 Other hints

14. Research-quality Web Searching
Google and Beyond
 John Kupersmith
 jkupersm [at] library.berkeley.edu
 A “Know Your Library” Workshop
 Teaching Library, University of California, Berkeley
 Spring 2009
COURSE PAGES:
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/find/types/websites.html
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html

15.  Think “full text” = be specific
war of 1812 economic causesvs. history
 Use academic & professional terms
domestic architecture vs. houses
genome society
gets International Mammalian Genome Society
also try combinations with
association, research center, institute,
directory, database

16.  Specify exact phrases
“tom bates”
“what you're looking for is already inside you”
 Exclude or require a word
proliferation -nuclear
bush legacy +environment

17.  Web page title
intitle:hybrid
allintitle:hybrid mileage
 Website or domain
site:whitehouse.gov “global warming”
site:edu “global warming”

18.  File type
filetype:ppt site:edu “global warming”
 Definitions
define:pixel
define:“due diligence”

19.  Search box (use to modify)
 “Cache”
 “Related pages”
 “Translate this page”

20.  Specify exact phrases
“tom bates”
“what you're looking for is already inside you”
 Exclude or require a word
proliferation -nuclear
bush legacy +environment

21.  Anyone can put up a Web page
 about anything
 Many pages not kept up-to-date
 No quality control
 most sites not “peer-reviewed”
 less trustworthy than scholarly publications
 no selection guidelines for search engines

22.  Look at the URL - personal page or site ?
~ or % orusers or members
 Domain name appropriate for the content ?
edu, com, org, net, gov, ca.us, uk, etc.
 Published by an entity that makes sense ?
 News from its source?
www.nytimes.com
 Advice from valid agency?
www.nih.gov/
www.nlm.nih.gov/
www.nimh.nih.gov/

23.  Can you tell who wrote it ?
 name of page author
 organization, institution, agency you recognize
 e-mail contact by itself not enough
 Credentials for the subject matter ?
 Look for links to:
“About us”“Philosophy”“Background” “Biography”
 Is it recent or current enough ?
 Look for “last updated” date - usually at bottom
 If no links or other clues...
 truncate back the URL
http://hs.houstonisd.org/hspva/academic/Science/Thinkquest/gail/text/ethics.
html

24. 1. Search a controversial topic in Google
 nuclear armageddon
 prions danger
 “stem cells” abortion
2. Scan the first two pages of results
3. Visit one or two sites
 evaluate their quality and reliability

25.  Bookmarks or Favorites
 Save as file
 File – Save Page As – Web page complete
 Use a special program
 Online search saves
 Browser extensions

26.  Google Books
 Google Maps
 Google Translate
 Google Scholar
 Google Patent Search

27.  distance learning
 chats
 research
 lesson plans
 virtual field trips
 develop a web page
 newsletters
 blogs

28.  Blogs
 Alex post what he’s learned
 Twitter
 Mom sends links to son
 Online business
 eBay
 Amazon Associates
 Web page