This document provides an introduction to searching online. It discusses why internet literacy skills are important, how to use Google to conduct searches, tips for refining searches, different types of websites and the reliability of the information found on them, how to organize search results using bookmarks, and basic safety tips for online searching. The goal is to help readers improve their ability to efficiently find reliable information online.

1. INTRODUCTION TO
SEARCHING ONLINE
COURTESY OF GCG LEARNFREE.ORG
Presented by Celia Bandelier

2. Why you need to know
 In today's world, more and more things are
done online. Even if you don't consider
yourself a computer person, you now need
computer skills in order to conduct research,
shop online, keep in touch with family, and
more.

3. Internet Literacy
 The ability to search for information online is
one of the most important information
literacy skills you can possess.
 By improving your search skills, you can find
what you're looking for more quickly without
having to sift through tons of irrelevant results.
 I’ll give you some information literacy
strategies to help you improve your
searches and evaluate yourresults to find the
most reliable information.

4. Google
 To find what you are looking for on the
Internet, the first step is usually a basic search
engine search i.e. Google.
 Go to www.google.com
 And enter your search.

5. Don’t give up
 You may not find the answers you are looking
for on the first try.
 If you don’t try refining your search
 Go more basic to expand your search
 Or go more specific to limit your search
 Think of other search term
 You may need a more specialized site for your
search.

6. Remember
 If you can find the right search terms, you can
find anything on the Internet.

7. The web isn’t magic
 Search engines like Google can find almost
anything, but they can’t understand complex
questions like:
 How’s the weather in California?
 Where can I get a cup of coffee?

8. The web is smarter than you
think
 Search for keywords instead of questions and
you’ll probably find exactly what you’re looking
for:
 Weather San Francisco
 Coffee

9. Not always reliable
 Just because it’s online doesn’t mean it’s true.
 There is no guarantee that the results of your
search are accurate, unbiased or up-to-date.
 For example, an article on a celebrity gossip
website is probably not the best source for
reliable information.

10. Wide variety of content
 That’s the great thing about the Internet, it give
you access to everything—the good, the bad,
and everything in between.
 You just have to be mindful of the difference
between personal opinion and resources that
are reliable and reputable.

11. You can’t copy and paste someone
else’s work
 Even though you “just found it on the Internet,”
it still belongs to someone.
 Plagiarism is plagiarism, whether you’re
writing a presentation, a research paper or a
personal post for your blog.

12. Create your own masterpiece
 You just have to follow the rules.
 Always state your findings in your own words.
 Give credit where credit is due.
 Be respectful of copyright and fair use laws.

13. Search engines
 Search engines are specialized websites that
can help you find what you're looking for.
You've probably heard of some of the most
popular ones—including Google, Yahoo!, and
Bing—even if you've never used them.

14. Same information, same
results???
 With these three search engines in mind, you may
be wondering, "What's the difference?" They all
have access to the same information (i.e., the
contents of the Internet), so they should return the
same results, right?
 Not necessarily. Different search engines can
yield different search results. Google is the most
popular search engine because it's the most
effective at finding what you're looking for. On
average, it produces more relevant results than
Yahoo! or Bing, and it's better at organizing and
filtering them. For this reason, we will focus
on Google.

15. Search Bar
 Your browser's search bar is probably set to
Google by default.
 However, if it is set to something else (for
example, Yahoo! or Bing), you can easily
change it to Google. To find out how, visit
Make Google my default search engine on
Google's support site.
 The steps are different for each browser, so
make sure you follow the instructions for the
one you're using.

16. Types of websites
 When you're looking for information online, it's
a good idea to be aware of what types of
websites are available and what kind of
information they contain.
 Depending on what you're looking for, you
may find that certain types are more relevant
to your search than others.

17. Commercial Website
 The main purpose of these sites are to
promote or sell their product.
 May have good information.
 Often the information is not unbiased and
should be checked with other sources.
 Usual address ends in .com

18. Organization Website
 Main purpose is to promote their cause.
 Usually have an agenda.
 May have good information.
 Often the information is not unbiased and
should be checked with other sources.
 Usually address ends in .org

19. News Website
 More and more people are getting their news
from the Internet.
 Usually reliable and up-to-date.
 Be sure to check the date of the article as
older articles are often left on the site.

20. Blogs
 Blogs are “web logs”.
 They are a type of diary.
 Have good information on many topics.
 Updated frequently sometimes more than
once a day.

21. Wikis
 Most common is wikipedia
 Users can modify or add to the content.
 Reliability varies.
 Best one site sources of the information so the
information can be verified.

22. School websites
 These are created to share information about
the schools.
 Some have pages which contain information
posted by teachers about lessons. These
pages are reliable.
 But be careful as some pages of the
information posted is done by students which
may not be as reliable.
 Usually address ends in .edu

23. Scholarly Sites
 These site contain scholarly items such as
dissertation or academic journals.
 To find this type of information, Search Google
Scholar.

24. Databases
 Databases are collections of information.
 The information is gathered from different
sources.
 One example is Internet Movie Database.
 Good place to go to find what movies an actor
has been in.

25. Forums
 Forums are places where people have
discussions.
 Good place for answers about specific
products or services.
 Information often stays up long after the
discussion has ended.
 Often come up in Google searches.

26. Question & Answer sites
 A lot like forum but focus is on answering the
question rather than discussing it.
 Example is Yahoo! Answers.

27. Organizing your search
 Being search savvy isn't just about finding
information online. It's also about being able to
save and organize the sites you've searched
for so you can easily find them later. The
simplest way to do this is to bookmark a site.

28. Bookmarks (Favorites)
 Every web browser lets you create bookmarks
(sometimes called favorites), and they also let
you rename and organize your bookmarks.
Even though it takes a second to create a
bookmark, it can save you time because you
won't have to search the Web to find it again.

29. Cloud-based bookmarking
 One disadvantage of traditional bookmarks is
that you won't be able to access them from a
different computer.
 To solve this problem, you can use a cloud-
based bookmarking service, which stores your
bookmarks online.
 This means you'll be able to access them from
any computer or device that has an Internet
connection.

30. Examples
 Google Bookmarks: If you have a Google account, you can view and
add bookmarks whenever you are signed in.
 Diigo: Diigo allows you to do more than just bookmark sites. You can
also highlight part of a page, add comments, and share bookmarks
with other people. There is a free version, and you can also purchase a
premium plan that includes more features.
 Delicious: Delicious makes it easy to share bookmarks with other
people, which is especially useful if you are collaborating with
coworkers or friends. Bookmarks can be grouped into Stacks, which
you can share with other people. You can also follow Stacks you find
interesting.
 Springpad: In addition to saving bookmarks, Springpad includes
productivity features like note-taking, to-do lists, and reminders. Like
Delicious, Springpad lets you share bookmarks with other people.
 Google Chrome: If you use Chrome as your main browser, you may
prefer to use its bookmarksyncingfeature. Whenever you are signed in
to Chrome, your bookmarks and other settings are synced with your
Google account. You can access your bookmarks from any computer
by simply signing in to Chrome.

31. Safety note
 Generally, you shouldn't sign in to Chrome on
a public computer, since it saves some of your
data to the computer.
 Even after you sign out, other people may be
able to access yourpersonal data.

32. What type of website is….
 www.boots.com
 www.amazon.com
 www.campsimcha.org
 www.rspca.org.uk
 www.oxfam.org
 www.mtsmichael.org
 www.smowschool.org
 www.miamiartcharter.net

33. More websites
 www.southshorefinearts.org
 www.bestsurvivalknifedude.com
 www.totallydogsblog.com
 www.boardingarea.com
 www.techcrunch.com
 www.acronymfinder.com
 www.allgame.com
 www.hoovers.com

34. More websites
 http://libguides.csuchico.edu/scholarly
 http://biology.merlot.org
 http://www.mybbsecurity.net
 http://mybbsource.com
 http://hackforums.net
 http://www.huffingtonpost.com
 http://www.theguardian.com
 http://www.usatoday.com

35. The end
 Thank you for attending.
 For more information, contact
 Celia Bandelier, Library Director
 Roanoke Public Library