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Beyond Google Tips & Tricks: Teaching Web Search Strategies to the Digital Natives: 

Beyond Google Tips & Tricks: Teaching Web Search Strategies to the Digital Natives William H. Weare, Jr. Friday, April 21, 2006 ILA/ACRL Spring Conference 2006

Google Tips & Tricks: 

Google Tips & Tricks Find a definition Find a phone number Check the performance of a stock Check the weather Get movie show times Do simple math calculations Find the best gas prices in your area GOOGLE

Digital Natives: 

Digital Natives

Digital Natives: 

Digital Natives

Recommended Reading:: 

Recommended Reading: Scott, Thomas J., and Michael K. O’Sullivan. “Analyzing Student Search Strategies: Making a Case for Integrating Information Literacy Skills into the Curriculum.” Teacher Librarian 33, no. 1 (2005): 21-25.

Scott & O’Sullivan: 

Scott & O’Sullivan “We know, if given a choice, many high school students will choose to browse or surf the Internet for the information they need for a particular assignment. This approach to research does not require developing sophisticated search strategies or critical thinking skills.”

Scott & O’Sullivan: 

Scott & O’Sullivan “The typical high school student simply employs the basic strategy of keyword searching.”

Scott & O’Sullivan: 

Scott & O’Sullivan “Students often get frustrated and end up resorting to surfing from one site to another in hopes of discovering that one nugget. Or they abandon their search entirely and claim they could not find anything on their topic.”

Scott & O’Sullivan: 

Scott & O’Sullivan “High school students frequently have difficulty defining exactly what kind of information they need. This inability to define their information needs may account for the frustration voiced by several students on the Internet survey.”

Scott & O’Sullivan: 

Scott & O’Sullivan “In spite of this frustration, students persist in pursuing this approach to finding information.”

In a nutshell:: 

In a nutshell: Google or Yahoo! is the first stop Employ key word searching Lack sophisticated search strategies Lack critical thinking skills Search in a random manner Searching based on trial and error Easily frustrated Abandon search

Question #1: 

Question #1 If students are so easily frustrated, why do they continue to use search engines to find information?

Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education: 

Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education The information literate student determines the nature and extent of the information needed. The information literate student accesses needed information effectively and efficiently. Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2000.

Digression #1: 

Digression #1 Overview: Four Major Search Providers

Overview: Four Major Search Providers: 

Overview: Four Major Search Providers Ask Full-text search engine http://ask.com/ Google Full-text search engine http://www.google.com/ Directory http://www.google.com/dirhp MSN Searchable subject index http://www.msn.com/ Clean screen (search engine) http://search.msn.com/ Yahoo! Searchable subject index http://www.yahoo.com/ Clean screen (search engine) http://search.yahoo.com/

Question #2 : 

Question #2 If we did the same search in each of the big four search providers, what is the likelihood that a site will show up on the first page (in the top ten) of all four providers?

Answer:: 

Answer: 1.1% Dogpile Search Engine Overlap Study (July 2005)

Dogpile Search Engine Overlap Study: 

Dogpile Search Engine Overlap Study “The study looked at search results from more than 12,500 random queries on Ask Jeeves, Google, MSN Search and Yahoo, and found that the overlap in first page results for these four engines was a scant 1.1% on average for a given query, suggesting that each of the four major search engines has a unique voice that's not duplicated by the other services.”

Dogpile Search Engine Overlap Study: 

Dogpile Search Engine Overlap Study 1.1 % of results were found using all four search engines 2.6% of results were found using three search engines 11.4% of results were found using two search engines 84.9% of results were unique to one search engine

Use More Than One Search Engine: 

Use More Than One Search Engine Not finding what you are looking for? Open another window, and try another search engine. Mary Ellen Bates recommends using a timer. Haven’t found what you are looking for in 15 minutes? Time to re-think your search strategy—or look somewhere else.

Digression #2Search Comparison Tools: 

Digression #2 Search Comparison Tools Langreiter.com: http://www.langreiter.com/exec/yahoo-vs-google.html Thumbshots Ranking: http://ranking.thumbshots.com/ Jux2: http://www.jux2.com/ Gooyaglehoo: http://www.gooyaglehoo.com/ Dogpile’s Search Comparison Tool: http://comparesearchengines.dogpile.com/

Search Strategies: 

Search Strategies Tools and strategies we already use Strategies that are particularly useful in searching the web Questions we need to be asking before we begin searching

Existing Tools & Strategies: 

Existing Tools & Strategies Phrase Searching Proximity Natural Language Boolean Operators Nesting Truncation Wildcards

Phrase Searching: 

Phrase Searching Des Moines River 11,000,000 “Des Moines River” 197,000

Word Order Matters!: 

Word Order Matters! Three Mice Blind 15,100,000 Blind Mice Three 14,100,000 Blind Three Mice 14,100,000 Mice Three Blind 13,700,000 Mice Blind Three 14,500,000 Three Blind Mice 5,040,000

Remember Jeeves?: 

Remember Jeeves?

Natural Language Searching: 

Natural Language Searching “Who won the Oscar for best actress in 1980?” “What is the population of Chicago?” “Where is the Danube?” ASK

Boolean Operators & Nesting: 

Boolean Operators & Nesting Boolean Operators: AND is the default OR used with parentheses is useful for searching synonyms NOT / - can be useful Nesting It works!

Using AND: 

Using AND Sprouts 11,300,000 Alfalfa Sprouts 874,000 “Alfalfa Sprouts” 316,000 “Alfalfa Sprouts” salmonella 45,900 “Alfalfa Sprouts” salmonella safety 29,800 “Alfalfa Sprouts” salmonella safety guidelines 11,000 “Alfalfa Sprouts” salmonella “safety guidelines” 131

Using OR: 

Using OR Adoption 310,000,000 Adoption “birth parents” 1,130,000 Adoption “biological parents” 403,000 Adoption (“birth parents” OR “biological parents”) 1,540,000

Not!: 

Not! Gettysburg 19,100,000 Gettysburg -battle 13,300,000 Gettysburg -address 13,000,000 Gettysburg -college 10,900,000 Gettysburg -battle -address –college 5,650,000 Gettysburg ship 1,560,000 “USS Gettysburg” 34,300

Truncation & Wildcards: 

Truncation & Wildcards Truncation is not supported, but it can be done Wildcards are supported and can be useful to find specific information GOOGLE

Additional Strategies : 

Additional Strategies Use the options available via Advanced Search Limit by domain or site Limit by file format Limit by where your search terms appear Find related sites See MORE with each search

Limit the Search by Site or Domain: 

Limit the Search by Site or Domain Syntax— site: “Bailey White” 61,900 “Bailey White” site:.npr.org 72

Limit the Search by File Type: 

Limit the Search by File Type Syntax— filetype: MLA EBSCOhost help filetype:.pdf

Limit the Search by Using Special Syntaxes: 

Limit the Search by Using Special Syntaxes Syntax— intitle: restricts the search to the title of the page inurl: restricts the search to the URL intext: restricts the search to the text only

Special Syntaxes: 

Special Syntaxes North American Black Bear 65,400,000 intitle:North American Black Bear 248,000 inurl:North American Black Bear 52,500 inurl:NorthAmericanBlackBear 3 intext:North American Black Bear 64,100,000

Find Related Sites: 

Find Related Sites Syntax– related: related:www.worldwildlife.org GOOGLE

See MORE with Each Search: 

See MORE with Each Search Rather than view only 10 results at a time, you can view 20, 30, 50, or 100 results on a page GOOGLE

Search Strategy Questions: 

Search Strategy Questions What is it exactly that I am looking for? Where am I likely to find this information? What terms are likely to appear on the page I am looking for?

What is it exactly that I am looking for?: 

What is it exactly that I am looking for? Archival materials Biographical information Conference proceedings Government publications Literary criticism Maps Newspaper accounts Primary source materials Statistics Tabular data

Where am I likely to find this information?: 

Where am I likely to find this information? Can I name an organization that is associated in some way with my topic? Is there a government agency that is associated in some way with my topic? Do I know the name of an expert in this field? Does she have a website? What organization is she affiliated with? Who, or what organization, would have an opinion about my topic?

What terms are likely to appear on the page I am looking for?: 

What terms are likely to appear on the page I am looking for? About / About us Archives Books & Journals Contact us Directory Education Fact Sheet FAQ Go Home Information Jobs Links Membership News / Newsroom Press Releases Product Information Publications Q & A Sale Search Site Map

What exactly am I looking for?—and where am I likely to find this information?: 

What exactly am I looking for?—and where am I likely to find this information? Topic: the reintroduction of DDT in Africa as a way to combat Malaria. A likely search in Google: Kenya DDT malaria 47,600 A better search: DDT malaria site:.go.ke GOOGLE

What we found: 

What we found National Environment Management Authority - (NEMA) WHY DDT SHOULD NOT BE RE-INTRODUCED FOR USE IN MALARIA CONTROL IN KENYA. . . By Alfred K. Lang'at www.nema.go.ke/ddt.htm |

What terms are likely to appear on the pageI am looking for?—and where am I likely to find this information?: 

What terms are likely to appear on the page I am looking for?—and where am I likely to find this information? "exotic pets" 2,180,000 "exotic pets“ “fact sheet” 592 "exotic pets“ “fact sheet” site:.peta.org 6

What is it I want to know—and where am I likely to find it?: 

What is it I want to know— and where am I likely to find it? Propecia 12,600,000 Propecia (risks OR side effects) 3,260,000 Propecia (risks OR side effects) site:.gov 309 Propecia (risks OR side effects) site:.fda.gov 50

Bibliography: 

Bibliography Calishain, Tara. Web Search Garage. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2005. Calishain, Tara, and Rael Dornfest. Google Hacks: 100 Industrial Strength Tips & Tools. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly, 2003. Dogpile.com, “Different Engines, Different Results: Web Searchers Not Always Finding What They’re Looking For Online,” http://comparesearchengines.dogpile.com/OverlapAnalysis.pdf. Hock, Randolph. The Extreme Searcher’s Internet Handbook: A Guide for the Serious Searcher. Medford, NJ: CyberAge Books, 2004. Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2000. Milstein, Sara, and Rael Dornfest. Google: The Missing Manual. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly, 2004.

Bibliography: 

Bibliography Prensky, Marc. “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” On the Horizon 9, no. 5 (2001). http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20- %20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf. ResearchBuzz. http://www.researchbuzz.com/. ResourceShelf. http://www.resourceshelf.com/. Scott, Thomas J., and Michael K. O’Sullivan. “Analyzing Student Search Strategies: Making a Case for Integrating Information Literacy Skills into the Curriculum.” Teacher Librarian 33, no. 1 (2005): 21-25. SearchEngineShowdown. http://www.searchengineshowdown.com/. SearchEngineWatch. http://searchenginewatch.com/. Sherman, Chris, and Gary Price. The Invisible Web: Uncovering Information Sources Search Engines Can’t See. Medford, NJ: CyberAge Books, 2001.

Questions?: 

Questions? Ask Full-text search engine http://ask.com/ Google Full-text search engine http://www.google.com/ Directory http://www.google.com/dirhp MSN Searchable subject index http://www.msn.com/ Clean screen (search engine) http://search.msn.com/ Yahoo! Searchable subject index http://www.yahoo.com/ Clean screen (search engine) http://search.yahoo.com/

Contact: 

Contact William H. Weare, Jr. Collection Development Librarian Geisler Library Central College 812 University Street Pella, IA 50219-1999 641-628-5221 or 641-628-8138 wearew@central.edu william.weare@gmail.com