learning how to search and evaluate information
TRANSCRIPT
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
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
Survey
https://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/MWMkUQemiWe38kb
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
Google Search: Tricks
Google Search: Tricks
Source: http://www.google.com/advanced_search
Google Search: Tricks
Source: http://www.google.ca/insidesearch/tipstricks/all.html
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http://www.powersearchingwithgoogle.com/course/ps/assets/PowerSearchingQuickReference.pdf
Google Search: Tricks
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/
Searching Strategies
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/
Searching Strategies
Fill in a Keyword Chart
Source: http://www.unlockingresearch.com/search-strategies/identify-keywords/
Searching Strategies
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.
Source: http://www.unlockingresearch.com/search-strategies/identify-keywords/
Example: Car OR vehicle
http://www.unlockingresearch.com/search-strategies/combine-keywords/
Searching Strategies
Combine Keywords (or, and not)
AND combines your different concepts to find only the documents that contain all of the keywords. It narrows your search and produces fewer results.
Source: http://www.unlockingresearch.com/search-strategies/identify-keywords/
Example: Car AND fuel
http://www.unlockingresearch.com/search-strategies/combine-keywords/
Searching Strategies
Combine Keywords (or, and not)
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.
Source: http://www.unlockingresearch.com/search-strategies/identify-keywords/
Example: Drugs NOT heroin
http://www.unlockingresearch.com/search-strategies/combine-keywords/
Example of Keyword Chart
Source: http://www.unlockingresearch.com/search-strategies/identify-keywords/
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
http://www.unlockingresearch.com/search-strategies/too-many-results/
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
http://www.unlockingresearch.com/search-strategies/too-many-results/
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.
Specialized Search Engines
http://images.google.com
Google Images: is a search service that allows users to search the Web for image content.
Specialized Search Engines
http://images.google.com
Google Images: is a search service that allows users to search the Web for image content.
Specialized Search Engines
Google Image
http://images.google.com
Who is this person? Which place is this?
http://www.visualnews.com/2013/12/30/22-pictures-famous-people-young/
Specialized Search Engines
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
Google Autocomplete
Specialized Search Engines
http://scholar.google.com
Google Scholar: Provides a search of scholarly literature across many disciplines and sources, including theses, books, abstracts and articles.
Specialized Search Engines
http://drive.google.com
Google Drive: Provides a research tool (for articles, papers)
Specialized Search Engines
http://news.google.com
Google News: A news aggregator selecting most up-to-date information from thousands of publications by an automatic aggregation algorithm.
Specialized Search Engines
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
Specialized Search Engines
http://www.google.ca/blogsearch
Google Blog Search: specialized service of Google which is used to search blogs.
Specialized Search Engines
http://youtube.com
Youtube: a video sharing websiteYoutube Stats
Specialized Search Engines
http://slideshare.com
Slideshare: a slide hosting website
Specialized Search Engines
http://www.findsounds.com/
Find Sounds: a free site where you can search the Web for sound effects.
Specialized Search Engines
http://www.imdb.com
IMDb: online database of information related to films, actors, television programs, and video games.
Specialized Search Engines
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
Evaluating Information: The CRAAP Test
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?
Evaluating Information: The CRAAP Test
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?
Evaluating Information: The CRAAP Test
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?
Evaluating Information: The CRAAP Test
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?
Evaluating Information: The CRAAP Test
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?
Evaluating Information: The CRAAP Test
http://prezi.com/ndwm9qsawi8x/craap-test-and-wikipedia/
Evaluating Information: The CRAAP Test
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
Evaluating Information: 6 Criteria for Websites
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?
http://libraries.dal.ca/using_the_library/tutorials/evaluating_web_resources/6_criteria_for_websites.html
Evaluating Information: 6 Criteria for Websites
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
Evaluating Information: 6 Criteria for Websites
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.
http://libraries.dal.ca/using_the_library/tutorials/evaluating_web_resources/6_criteria_for_websites.html
Evaluating Information: 6 Criteria for Websites
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?
http://libraries.dal.ca/using_the_library/tutorials/evaluating_web_resources/6_criteria_for_websites.html
Evaluating Information: 6 Criteria for Websites
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
India
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
DawsonITE Blog
http://dawsonite.dawsoncollege.qc.ca
Contact Me
Rafael Scapin, Ph.D.
