Wading Through The Internet

Wading Through the Internet #1

Each school year, you and your students (and/or children) are using computers and doing research on the Internet more and more; and the amount of information or misinformation grows dramatically each day. EROLS Internet services, one of our local ISPs, developed a summary to help internet users wade through this information more easily and safely. We've adapted that summary here. Some of these ideas may work for you; some may not. They are merely provided as a starting point for your online educational activities. Feel free to let us know if this summary is helpful and if you have any comments about it. We'll gladly accept recommendations for additions or deletions.

Thanks! And we hope this material proves helpful to you.

Mike & Barbara (How the Weatherworks educators)

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Ideas for students and others

The Internet is merely a tool. At the risk of saying the obvious, the "Web" is not necessarily a source of "facts" or the "truth." Rather, it is just a big electronic library. You have to find the really important information and data and apply that to your project, paper, or activity. Your teacher is not always going to accept something you put into your submission just because you "got it on the Internet."

When researching, remember to look carefully on the Web site for its own sources of information. Good writers will tell you where they learned something. They will credit sources (as we did above). Be sure to follow this important journalistic style as you look for specific names, dates, and places in your research.

Add links, as appropriate. You can gain credibility with teachers if you put into your document the address of the Web page where you learned something. It's easy to do: just right-click on the address bar, then on "copy." In your document, then click on "paste," and it will put in something like this:

http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/reference/cynavi.html

That way, if your teacher wants to see how you used the information, he or she can go there and check. Be sure you really understand the information and links you add. Just adding links to fill up space may not get you that better grade after all!

Add appropriate pictures and graphics. It is easy to "lift" photos and graphics from Web sites to liven up your document. However, be careful you are not violating copyright rules. Read the fine print at the bottom of a site or the copyright notice accompanying the photograph or graphic. Use the right mouse button (PCs) or just the mouse button (Macs) to click on the photo or image you want. Use the "save image as" command to put it on your desktop or file folder, where you can find it easily. Use the "insert" command in your word processor to add it to your document.

Use search engines to help find things. As with anything else, there are good search engines and the there are better search engines. There are even search engines that search other search engines. A recent survey indicated that some of the best-known search engines come up with only 16 percent of the data available on the Internet on any given subject. In addition, many search engines provide links that seem to be totally unrelated or inappropriate to what you are searching for, while others may not provide the most appropriate links first. Therefore, try to find a search engine that specializes in the kind of information you want. To avoid finding inappropriate links, use parental blocks, as needed. You will find some suggestions (but not necessarily recommendations) of some useful web pages in the "Suggested Back To School Sites" list below. We keep a list of search engines in a bookmarks file called "utilities". Bookmarking key sites is one way to help you more easily find them. Most browsers have some easy tools for organizing key links.

Use a reference web site that breaks down information by categories. One of the best we've found is one used by the professional reporters at the New York Times to THEIR research. It is oriented specifically toward research and not just entertainment. It is called the "Cyber Times Navigator," and you can find it here: http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/reference/cynavi.html [Access to most features at the New York Times is free, but the site will require you to register and provide a password the first time you visit.] While there, you'll find an extensive list of search engines listed. Some of these are noted below.

Also, try FAST SEARCH. It really is fast!!! And it lets you narrow your search relatively easily (see more below).

Web Search

Finally, for kids, try Yahooilgans. It's definitely "kid-friendly".

Narrow your search. If you have been assigned to write a history paper on George Washington crossing the Delaware River at Christmas time in 1776 during the Revolutionary War, don't type just "George Washington". You will get a zillion responses. Instead, type in individual words separated by commas, like this: "George, Washington, 1776, Delaware." That way the search engine will look for only what you need. Some search engines have other types of "syntax" instructions to help refine your search.

In FAST, you can select "all of the words," "any of the words," and "the exact phrase." So, if you search for "all of the words" first and get too many sites, you might try "George Washington crosses the Delaware" or "George Washington's Delaware crossing" under the "exact phrase" option.

Another good way to narrow your search is to use the EROLS "Look Smart," which also breaks down information by categories. Basically you click on your main subject area and then just keep searching downward in appropriate sub-folders.

Finally, please remember that this information is just a start. Search the web and find and use your own favorite sites. Than use them to advantage.

And to find some of our favorite weather, earth and space science,and other links, go to http://www.weatherworks.com/links.html.

Good luck!

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SOME SUGGESTED EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH SITES
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All sites listed below address elementary through high school level research on the Internet; some can easily be used by college students, too.

http://www.webteacher.org/winexp/indextc.html - If you have never done any research on the Internet, this is an outstanding place to learn all about the Web and how to use it. The site offers clear, well-written tutorials.

http://www.dictionary.com/ - A good place to begin if you are just looking up a word or want to find the author of an obscure quote.

http://www.webster.com/- Merriam-Webster's On-line Dictionary and Thesaurus; includes Word of the Day - Word Games - Word for the Wise.

http://www.grammarlady.com/ - Does your English teacher cross out everything you write? You need help from the grammar lady, who has a great sense of humor and offers practical advice on how to write well. Tell your English teacher you hang out here after school. He or she may be very impressed.

http://www.4history.com/ - A well-designed site that offers documents, maps, and texts describing ancient, world, and American history. It also provides links to other research sites. If you left your history book in your locker, you can catch up here. The site is part of a series of "4" sites, such as "4school," "4reference," "4government," and so forth.

http://www.biography.com/ - This site has brief profiles of more than 20,000 famous people from ancient history right up to Hollywood. It has links to the Arts & Education channel on cable, and is specifically oriented toward students.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/ - A great site to help you with your papers on many subjects, but especially science projects. Clear explanations, lots of diagrams and pictures. Read the copyright warning.

http://www.learn2.com/ - A site that offers hundreds of tutorials that teach you how to do everything from washing a car to writing a speech.

http://www.dogpile.com/ - One of the search engines that searches other search engines. Click on the "Help with Syntax" bar to find out how to
narrow and refine your search.

http://www.google.com - A new type of search engine developed at Stanford University that rates sites by the number of times they have been visited. It generally offers a wider and more effective selection than others.

This page was updated on September 20, 2001.

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