Updating Your Digital ToolkitMichael HunterReference Librarian

Hobart and William Smith Colleges

forWestern New York Library Resources Council

Member Libraries’ Staff

Sponsored by the Western New York Library Resources Council

For today….. Perspectives on search:

Making the implicit explicit Sharpening our skills:

› Deep web niche engines › The social web

Search literacy lesson plans Search derby Raising the bar in web evaluation Free digital collections Future directions

Linklist:http://people.hws.edu/hunter/

toolkitlinks.htm

Searcher

Principles

ContextResources

Evaluation

How it really works…….

Searcher

Principles

ContextResources

Evaluation

USER

Making the implicit explicit

Most searches are….› Done by a unique searcher› Done in a unique context› Done for an information need unique

to the user

Strategies and TacticsDan Russell – searchresearch1.blogspot.com

Search Strategy › Overall plan to achieve your goal

Search Tactics › Specific actions taken as you follow the

strategy

Metatactics Know (or learn) the parameters and

capabilities of the resource.› What? Type of information or format› Who? Creator(s)› When? Recency or coverage dates› How? Can it be searched?› Why? Key factors for its credibility

Know (or discover) the most effective search term(s) for the resource you are using

Know (or learn) the user’s specific needs

Sources for the Hard-To-Find

Deep Web Niche Engines(aka Verticals)

Social Web Resources

Martindale Centerwww.martindalecenter.com

The Reference Desk› www.martindalecenter.com

Health Sciences Guide› www.martindalecenter.com/HSGuide.html

Calculators On-Line› www.martindalecenter.com/Calculators.html

Martindale Centerwww.martindalecenter.com

Extensive collection of deep web resources of high quality

37 broad categories Frequent updates Maintained by Jim Martindale Began in 1994 as project at UC-Irvine

Freealityfreeality.com

Gateway to over 500 niche engines and directories

18 broad categories New listings in most categories Created and maintained by Internet Oracle

of Littletown, New Hampshire, an enterprise search company

Freealityfreeality.com

E-mail & Reverse Look-up (17) Video & Image (13) Women’s Resources (19) Reference & Research

› Biographies (30)› Dictionaries & Encyclopedias (60)› Glossaries & Acronyms (24)› Homework Helpers (25)› Thesauri & Quotations (28)

Mining Today’s Social Web:The trust factors

People you don’t know› Wikipedia› Human-created databases, directories

“I need a few good sites on solar energy” Mahalo, Ipl2.org

› Q&A Services“How do I repair my garage door opener?” Yahoo Answers, Answers.com, Mahalo

Answers

Mining Today’s Social Web:The trust factors

People you follow› Twitter-human created Tweets“What’s the buzz on Beyonce?”

People you know› Post a question to friends and family“What type of Mac should I buy?”› Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Bing (login

via Facebook)

TwitterminingSome tweets are more “authoritative” than

others…

Access to unfiltered, real-time perspective on what people are thinking and doing

Authority (and usefulness) of a tweet depends on› Who sent it› The number and “authority” of their

followers› When it was sent› Documents/sites it refers to

Twittermining Public responses/attitudes

› Trending topics and people› Political candidates and issues› Companies and products› Colleges and universities

Locate individuals and their networks› Who they follow› Who follows them

Monitor collaborations

Twittermining Tools Twitter.com

› Requires a (free) account› Only the latest 2 weeks available› Searchable by hashtag (#)

Author-designated keyword or significant term or phrase #rochester #jobs #marketing

Twittermining Tools Search.twitter.com

› No account required› Only the latest 2 weeks available› Advanced search features

Booleans Hashtag Language limit Author search (tweets from or to) “Near this place” Attitude – positive, negative, question

Twittermining Tools Twitter Vennwww.neoformix.com/Projects/TwitterVenn/view.php

Venn diagrams illustrating the rate of tweets containing specific terms

Twitter StreamGraphwww.neoformix.com/Projects/TwitterStreamGraphs/view.php

Words most highly associated with a specified termLimited to the latest 1,000 tweets containing that term

Google’s Search Lesson Plans and Common Core Standards

Search Lesson Plans and Common Core Standards

google.com/insidesearch/searcheducation/lessons.html

Part of Google’s search education initiative 5 main topics with beginner, intermediate

and advanced levels› Picking the right search terms › Understanding search results › Narrowing a search to get the best results › Searching for evidence for research tasks › Evaluating credibility of sources

Search Lesson Plans Focus is using Google, but adaptable to

other sources Each plan lists Common Core

Standards addressed Include illustrative slides and

suggested assessments of student work

“A Google-a-day challenge” questions with answers

Good strategies for deep web searching in Advanced Level of Lesson #1

Web Evaluation Today:Raising the Bar

Web Evaluation Where we are and how we got here Checklists: what they do and don’t do Raising the bar beyond the basics Using the Social Web in evaluation Active learning applications

One of the basics….What’s in a web address?

Transfer protocol/Domain name/Directory & subdirectory/File name

TP- hpertext https-(http secure) Encrypts all traffic to and from that site

Domain nameName unique to the server where the site is located. Includes domain type and country if outside the US.

Transfer protocol/Domain name/Directory & subdirectory/File name

DirectorySpecific “folder” on the server where this file is found

File nameActual name and information about the file› Markup language used: html, htm, php› Dynamic content: shtml, asp› Format: pdf, docx, jpg, mpeg, mp3

Evaluative Checklists:Pro and Con

Pro› Structured approach to a complex process› Useful reminders of what to look for

Con› Many focus on potential flaws of a site rather

than its strengths› One checklist does not “fit all” types of sites› No substitute for critical investigation geared

to the specific site› Time-consuming and impractical

Raising the bar beyond the basics Berkman, Robert The Skeptical Business Searcher

Medford, NJ: Information Today, 2004

Pushing past superficial generalizations to think critically and deeply about the web site

Domain type is just the beginning of critical evaluation and analysis

Effective evaluation may call for an approach unique to that site

Degrees of confidence among all domain types

.com Very high› Articles from trusted magazines and other

news sources› Archives of public media sites (BBC, NPR,

etc.)High› Public-service organizations (many are .org)› Academic scholarly articles

Degrees of confidence .com

Medium› Advocacy groups/special interest sites› News wires› Company-issued white papers› Company home pagesLow› Personal pages› Marketing/sales pages› Bloggers I don’t know

Degrees of confidence .gov

Very high› Federal statistics sites› Recognized international organizations High› Federal government information

clearinghouses› Governmental public service pages

Degrees of confidence .gov

Medium› State/local public records information› Departmental/agency home pages (may

be subject to political pressure)› Embassies/consulates

Degrees of confidence .edu

High› University administration pages› Faculty home pages (publication links, syllabi)› Library guides› Research center findings and reportsMedium› Graduate papersLow› Undergraduate papers

Domain Registration Currently unrestricted:

› .com› .info› .net› .org

Currently require proof of eligibility› .edu .coop .mil› .gov .int .museum› .xxx .aero .asia

Using the Social Web in EvaluationInfluence Metrics

Many social media services offer data on the sites and topics their users are citing

Mining this data can be a measure of a site’s influence and popularity

Wheeler, Emily and Samara Ormundson “Evolution In Source Evaluation: Using Social Media Data” FUMSI Jan. 5, 2010

Influence Attributes within a website

Check for› Self-reported web traffic data› Number of comments (blog)› Intended audience› Audience profile› Incoming links (link:URL in Google)

A Site’s Influence Ranking AttributesAttribute Description Associated

MetricsReach Readership or

subscriber baseUnique visitors per monthTwitter followers

Buzz Secondary readership via social media channels

Popularity metricsInbound blog linksRetweets

Engagement Reader participation or dialogue with creators or other readers

Time spent on the siteNumber of comments or replies

Content Relevance of source content to topic

Frequency and depth of relevant content

Audience Reader groups targeted or reached by the site

Intended audience as per contentReader demographics

Sources for Influence Metrics Alexa

› Alexa traffic rank› Sites linking in› Time spent on site

Quantcast› Traffic frequency› Est. monthly US

visitors› Audience

demographics Technorati

› Authority

YouTube› Views› Star ratings› Comments

Twitter› Followers› Following

TwitterCounter› Twitter rank› Predicted followers

in 30 days

Team-based Web Evaluation Learning Goals

› Discern 4 key indicators of a website’s credibility

› Understand the complexity of these indicators by analyzing a given website and responding to questions using a 5-point scale

› As a team, agree to a common answer for each question

› As a team, articulate the rationales for these answers to the entire class

Subject-focused literature review workspace

http://tinyurl.com/refwhs2 Students work as individuals Everyone sees responses and progress Serves as springboard for discussion Encourages participation throughout

the class Adaptable to web evaluation

assignments

Free Digital CollectionsHunter’s Picks:

http://hwshunter.weebly.com

Directory of Open Access Bookswww.doabooks.org

Currently 1097 free, peer-reviewed books

27 international publishers Companion site to Directory of Open

Access Journals (www.doaj.org) with over 1231 scholarly and scientific journals worldwide

MITxhttp://mitx.mit.edu/

Portfolio of free MIT courses offered through an online learning platform

Features online laboratories and student-to-student communication

Certificate of completion awarded by MIT “for a modest fee”

MIT’s OpenCourseWare will continue “Circuits and Electronics” March-June

2012 More courses in Fall of 2012

Future Directions in Searching

Is a universal notion of relevancy possible for today’s web searchers?

What are searchers looking for and how do engines enable (or hinder) them?

Modalities of Search“Three Mindsets of Search” - About.com 2011

http://www.advertiseonabout.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/3-Mindsets-of-Search-PR.pdf

“Answer me” 48% › Give me exactly what I ask for…

“Educate me” 26%› Broad, contextual understanding, with

multiple perspectives “Inspire me” 28%

› Fun, “browsy” search; Looking for surprises, travel, etc.

Can any single search service based on full-text retrieval satisfy all these modalities, regardless of how many ranking algorithms come into play?

Social networks and Search“Three Mindsets of Search” - About.com 2011

How would you define “an expert”?› 96% include “self-taught “allies with

experience and motivation› 89% include the wisdom of crowds

in social or outside networks› 87% include traditional credentialed

experts

Growing Trends… Social networks as sources for

information and se ranking data Facebook as e-commerce hub (stores

and companies’ fanpages) Content packaged in video and audio Mobile search apps

› May only search for one thing but it does that very well

Development of niche engines for different search modalities (Return of vertical engines?)

Thank You and Enjoy Your Searching!!!

Michael HunterReference Librarian

Hobart and William Smith CollegesGeneva, NY 14456(315) 781-3014

hunter@hws.edu