learning how to search and evaluate information

EMSB Adult Education & Vocational Services Conference

Learning How to Search and Evaluate Information

Rafael Scapin, Ph.D.Coordinator of Educational Technology

Dawson College

November 7th, 2014

Digital Literacy is the ability to effectively and critically navigate, evaluate and create information using a range of digital technologies.

This practical 2-hour workshop will present techniques on how to effectively search, gather and evaluate online information.

Content

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nZkq31J-GY

Source: Go-Globe.com

Information Overload

InfoWhelm

Source: http://youtu.be/cWkQq5qmdmc

Go to:

http://Pollev.com

Survey

Google: 742852

Bing: 742853

Yahoo! 742854

Other: 742855

Survey

https://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/MWMkUQemiWe38kb

There is also Bing!

Source: http://bing.com

And Baidu in China

Source: http://baidu.com

Other Search Engines

How the World is Searching

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2443825/Google-rules-West-Japan-prefers-Yahoo-Map-reveals-different-internet-giants-dominate-countries-globe.html

Image Source: : http://www.fastcocreate.com/3019595/creativity-by-the-numbers/see-a-map-of-the-world-revealing-each-countrys-most-visited-websit

Bing vs Google

Source: http://www.bing-vs-google.com/

Digital Literacy

Source: http://21cif.com/resources/difcore/index.html

Locating Information

Source: http://21cif.com/resources/difcore/index.html

Locating Information Efficiently

What Information Am I Looking For?

Where Will I Find the Information?

How Will I Get There?

Searching on the Web

Source: http://data-arts.appspot.com/globe-search

Google Search by Language

How Google Search Works

Source: http://youtu.be/BNHR6IQJGZs

Source: http://www.google.com/insidesearch/howsearchworks/thestory/

How Google Search Works

Searching as Part of Our Daily Life

Beyond Google

http://search.carrot2.org/stable/search

Carrot organizes your search results into topics

https://duckduckgo.com/

DuckDuckGo provides instant answers

http://blekko.com/

Blekko organizes content in semantic schema and pulls search results from a wide variety of online. sources

http://www.infotopia.info/

A Google alternative safe search engine for students

Google Search: Tricks

Source: http://mashable.com/2011/11/24/google-search-infographic/

Google Operators: http://www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators_reference.html

Source: http://www.google.com/advanced_search

Source: http://www.google.ca/insidesearch/tipstricks/all.html

http://www.powersearchingwithgoogle.com/course/ps/assets/PowerSearchingQuickReference.pdf

Source: http://lifehacker.com/top-10-clever-google-search-tricks-1450186165

Searching Strategies

Identify Keywords

Ignore the “small” words (what, are, the, etc.), words connected to time (sometimes, always, perhaps, often, etc.) and words that show relation (effects, lead to, increases, etc.)

Example:What are the effects of media on bullying among children?

Main concepts Source: http://www.unlockingresearch.com/search-strategies/identify-keywords/

Now find some synonyms Different authors will use different words to write about

their topics.

Source: http://www.unlockingresearch.com/search-strategies/identify-keywords/

http://www.synonym.com/

Fill in a Keyword Chart

Combine Keywords (or, and not)

OR combines your synonyms and related terms to find documents that contain any or all of the words. It broadens your search and produces more results.

Example: Car OR vehicle

http://www.unlockingresearch.com/search-strategies/combine-keywords/

AND combines your different concepts to find only the documents that contain all of the keywords. It narrows your search and produces fewer results.

Example: Car AND fuel

NOT followed by a keyword will exclude all the documents that contain that particular word. It is a way of avoiding unrelated articles. Use it with caution as you may miss out on potentially useful material.

Example: Drugs NOT heroin

Example of Keyword Chart

More Tips

Truncation will find all the variants of a word.

For example child* will find child, children, and childhood.

This saves you time. If your research is looking at how poverty affects children, the search statement would be:

poverty AND child*

Always check the help page of the database to know the correct symbol to use.

Truncation (*, ?)

More Tips

Grouping will create a more focused search.

Quotations “ ”

Quotations allow you to search for an exact phrase. The search will only bring back results that contain that phrase.

Example: street kids 1,025,026 results“street kids” 6,416 results

Grouping

Too Many Results?Your search come up with 1,760 results? Make your topic more specific by asking questions:

Who? Who is involved, who is affected? If you’re interested in poverty be more specific: poverty in single-parent families.

Where? Are you interested in data from Canada?

When? Are you researching the last 5 years or during the 1960s?

http://www.unlockingresearch.com/search-strategies/too-many-results/

Too Many Results?Modify your search by adding, removing or changing your keywords:

Add in your other concepts using the AND Boolean operator when necessary.

Remember that AND will narrow your search by making it more specific.

Example: drug abuse AND sports

Use a different keyword from your list of synonymsExample: substance abuse instead of drug abuse

Enter fewer synonyms or try a narrower termExample: teenagers instead of youth

Too Few Results?Modify your search by adding, removing or changing your keywords:

Add in your other concepts using the AND Boolean operator when necessary.

Remember that AND will narrow your search by making it more specific.

Example: drug abuse AND sports

Use a different keyword from your list of synonymsExample: substance abuse instead of drug abuse

Enter fewer synonyms or try a narrower termExample: teenagers instead of youth

Too Few Results?

Add in more synonyms or related terms.

The more related terms you have the broader your search will be. These are words connected by the OR Boolean operator.

Use the truncation symbol to get all the variants of a word.Example: aggress* will get you aggressive, aggression, aggressiveness.

http://www.unlockingresearch.com/search-strategies/too-few-results/

Google Power Searching Courses

Source: http://www.powersearchingwithgoogle.com/

Improve your Google search skills with Power Searching and Advanced Power Searching online courses.

Specialized Search Engines

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t99BfDnBZcI#t=22

Google Images: is a search service that allows users to search the Web for image content.

http://images.google.com

Google Image

Who is this person? Which place is this?

http://www.visualnews.com/2013/12/30/22-pictures-famous-people-young/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyeJXKfAcpc

Google Handwrite: lets you write your search right on the Google homepage. It’s available on Google.com from your smartphone or tablet

Specialized Search EnginesGoogle Instant: lets you write your search right on the Google homepage. It’s available on Google.com from your smartphone or tablet

http://www.google.com/insidesearch/features/instant

Google Autocomplete

http://scholar.google.com

Google Scholar: Provides a search of scholarly literature across many disciplines and sources, including theses, books, abstracts and articles.

http://drive.google.com

Google Drive: Provides a research tool (for articles, papers)

http://news.google.com

Google News: A news aggregator selecting most up-to-date information from thousands of publications by an automatic aggregation algorithm.

http://books.google.com

Google Books: searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical character recognition, and stored in its digital database

http://www.google.ca/blogsearch

Google Blog Search: specialized service of Google which is used to search blogs.

http://youtube.com

Youtube: a video sharing websiteYoutube Stats

http://slideshare.com

Slideshare: a slide hosting website

http://www.findsounds.com/

Find Sounds: a free site where you can search the Web for sound effects.

http://www.imdb.com

IMDb: online database of information related to films, actors, television programs, and video games.

http://www.wikipedia.org

Wikipedia: a collaboratively edited, multilingual, free Internet encyclopedia supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation.

26 million articles in 286 languages

A 2005 investigation in Nature showed that the science articles they compared came close to the level of accuracy of Encyclopædia Britannica and had a similar rate of "serious errors“.

Source: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v438/n7070/full/438900a.html

Evaluating Information

Source: http://www.theonion.com/articles/apple-announces-plans-for-new-ipad-with-extra-stor,31067/

Evaluating Information: The CRAAP Test

Evaluating anything you read, print or web based, involves questioning. Is it good information? Or is it CRAAP? CRAAP is an acronym representing 5 criteria for evaluating information.The C.R.A.A.P. test was created by the Meriam Library at California State University

CRAAPCurrencyThe timeliness of the information. Are there dates on the page to indicate:• when it was written?• when it was first placed on the Web?• when it was last revised?• Is it the most recent revision or version of the document?• Are all the links on the site current and working, i.e. are

there outdated or "dead" links?• Are there any other indications that the material is kept

current?

CRAAPRelevanceThe importance of the information for your needs.• Does it relate to my topic?• Does it help me answer a question or solve a problem?• Does it fill in background information or provide specific information?• Could it help to form my central argument?• Will it help me locate other information?• Does it provide evidence or support my ideas? Does it provide a good

example?• Is it new information or am I just restating what I have already said?• What does it add to my work? Would my assignment be just as good

without it?

CRAAPAuthorityThe source of the information• Is it clear who produced or sponsored the site or what

institution or organization its author(s) is affiliated with?• Is there a link describing the purpose of the sponsoring

organization?• Is this organization recognized in the field in which you are

studying?• Is it clear who wrote the material? And what the author's

qualifications are?• Is there an address to contact for more information?• If the material is protected by copyright, is the name of the

copyright holder given?

CRAAPAccuracyThe reliability, truthfulness and correctness of the informational content presented.• Are sources of any factual information listed in a clear and

complete manner so that they can be verified if necessary?• Is the information free of grammatical, spelling, and other

errors?• If statistical data is presented in graph or chart form, is it legible

and clearly labeled?

CRAAPPurposeThe reason the information exists.• Is the information provided as a public service?• Does the point of view appear to be objective and impartial? Does it

acknowledge other perspectives or conflicting information?• If there is any advertising on the page, is it clearly differentiated from

the informational content?• Are the authors' biases (if any) clearly stated i.e. is it an opinion piece?

A political message? A product advertisement?• Be alert to political, religious, ideological, cultural, institutional or

personal biases• Is it meant to inform? Teach? Or is it meant to entertain? Persuade? Sell

a product, an idea, or way of thinking?• Is the information fact? Or is it propaganda? Opinion?

http://prezi.com/ndwm9qsawi8x/craap-test-and-wikipedia/

1. AUTHORITY

Authority reveals that the person, institution or agency responsible for a site has the qualifications and knowledge to do so. Evaluating a web site for authority:

Authorship: It should be clear who developed the site.

Contact information should be clearly provided: e-mail address, snail mail address, phone number, and fax number.

Credentials: the author should state qualifications, credentials, or personal background that gives them authority to present information.

Check to see if the site supported by an organization or a commercial body

Evaluating Information: 6 Criteria for Websites

http://libraries.dal.ca/using_the_library/tutorials/evaluating_web_resources/6_criteria_for_websites.html

2. PURPOSE

The purpose of the information presented in the site should be clear. Some sites are meant to inform, persuade, state an opinion, entertain, or parody something or someone. Evaluating a web site for purpose:

• Does the content support the purpose of the site?• Is the information geared to a specific audience (students,

scholars, general reader)?• Is the site organized and focused?• Are the outside links appropriate for the site?• Does the site evaluate the links?

3. COVERAGE

It is difficult to assess the extent of coverage since depth in a site, through the use of links, can be infinite. One author may claim comprehensive coverage of a topic while another may cover just one aspect of a topic. Evaluating a web site for coverage:

• Does the site claim to be selective or comprehensive?• Are the topics explored in depth?• Compare the value of the site’s information compared to other

similar sites.• Do the links go to outside sites rather than its own?• Does the site provide information with no relevant outside

links?http://libraries.dal.ca/using_the_library/tutorials/evaluating_web_resources/6_criteria_for_websites.html

4. CURRENCY

Currency of the site refers to:

1) how current the information presented is, and

2) how often the site is updated or maintained. It is important to know when a site was created, when it was last updated, and if all of the links are current.

5. OBJECTIVITY

Objectivity of the site should be clear.

Beware of sites that contain bias or do not admit its bias freely. Objective sites present information with a minimum of bias. Evaluating a web site for objectivity:

• Is the information presented with a particular bias?• Does the information try to sway the audience?• Does site advertising conflict with the content?• Is the site trying to explain, inform, persuade, or sell

something?

6. ACCURACY

Evaluating a web site for accuracy:

• Reliability: Is the author affiliated with a known, respectable institution?

• References: do statistics and other factual information receive proper references as to their origin?

• Does the reading you have already done on the subject make the information seem accurate?

• Is the information comparable to other sites on the same topic?

• Does the text follow basic rules of grammar, spelling and composition?

• Is a bibliography or reference list included?http://libraries.dal.ca/using_the_library/tutorials/evaluating_web_resources/6_criteria_for_websites.html

Sharing Files

Source: http://drive.google.com/start

Social Bookmarking

Source: http://delicious.comBrowser widget

Content Curation

Source: http://www.scoop.it

Content Curation

Source: http://www.paper.li

Content Curation

Source: http://www.livebinders.com

Content Curation

Source: http://www.scoop.it

Digital Literacy

Source: http://www.medialiteracyweek.ca/en/press_articles10_digitalliteracycanada.htm

Practical Example: Learning Situation

Adapted from: http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/sections/formationBase/pdf/doc/41-6014-A_EnglishLI.pdf

Multicultural Potluck FestivalYour class is composed by students from different countries. They will organize an annual potluck, with typical foods from their countries.

• You will make a list of all the countries.

• Students cannot select their own country, so they can learn other countries’ foods and culture.

• A draw will define which country will be assigned to each student.

• The students will: research the most popular foods of each country, learn how to prepare them and how to pronounce them on the original language, prepare a poster with info on the selected country, like flag, map, languages spoken, etc.

Practical Example: Learning Situation

Adapted from: http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/sections/formationBase/pdf/doc/41-6014-A_EnglishLI.pdf

Multicultural Potluck Festival

Algeria Australia

Brazil Haiti

Using Google Translate to Order Food

Source: http://youtu.be/wxDRburxwz8

Searching on the Web: Google Nose

Source: http://youtu.be/9-P6jEMtixY

Resources

21st Century Information Fluency: http://21cif.com/index.html

Unlocking Research: http://www.unlockingresearch.com/search-strategies/

Google’s Digital Literacy Tour: http://www.google.com/edu/resources/digital-literacy.html

Evaluatinghttp://www.googleguide.com/evaluating_results.html Google Power Searching Course:

http://www.powersearchingwithgoogle.com/ Google Search Quick Referencehttp://www.powersearchingwithgoogle.com/course/ps/assets/PowerSearchingQuickReference.pdf

Questions

rscapin@dawsoncollege.qc.ca

rscapin

DawsonITE Blog

http://dawsonite.dawsoncollege.qc.ca

Contact Me

Rafael Scapin, Ph.D.

learning how to search and evaluate information

google search workssource

search engines

search resultsinto topicshttp

searchingimage source

online information

information overload

bing vs googlesource

effects of media

Education

learning to search

learning to search henry kautz

literature review: how to search, evaluate, synthesize, and...

web search & evaluate info

how to search and critically evaluate research literature

learn to fish: learning to evaluate educational apps

machine learning and search -state of search 2016

search with learning

learning to evaluate go positions via temporal difference...

using triangulation to evaluate machine learning models

learning activity #3: analyze and evaluate a...

social and situated learning outcomes: identify and evaluate...

using scales to evaluate learning targets

learning to reinforce search effectiveness

three step approach to information literacy: search,...

deeper learning: bloom’s taxonomy evaluate-level...

learning to search - robotics institute · learning to...

neural optimizer search with reinforcement learning -...

sequential targeted q-learning for marketing with evaluate

securing mature cfml codebases - teratech · search code...