21st century literacies graphic

Home | Information | Multicultural | Media | Visual
Information Media Multicultural Visual

Lesson: General Web Search Tools: An Introduction

Description

The purpose of this lesson is to help students understand the types of search tools available for searching websites and pages on the web and to evaluate the results they retrieve from each type of search tool. This will allow students to search more effectively and retrieve better results.

Learning Outcomes   I   Suggested Procedure   I   Assessment    for this Lesson

Materials for this Online lesson:

  • Computer with Internet access
  • Video projection device/screen
  • Whiteboard/markers
  • Introduction to Web Search Tools Worksheet for recording results of different searches
    		•  Time allotment: 45-50 minutes

    Grade Level: Grade 8 - 12

    Information Literacy Standard:
    1. The student who is information literate accesses information efficiently and effectively.
    6. The student who is an independent learner is information literate and strives for excellence in information seeking and knowledge generation.

    Learning Outcomes

    Students will know the definitions of the three major web search tools: search engine, directory and metasearch engine.
    Students will be able to distinguish when to use different types of web search tools.

    Set Up

    Write on the board definitions for these three terms - Search engine, Search directory, and Metasearch engines

    1. Search Engine: An Internet software program that creates huge databases of web documents. Search engines send out "spiders" or "robots" to crawl through web files and index them. Examples: Google, AltaVista. CAVEATS: No search engine indexes the entire web. · Not all search engines are updated in a timely manner.

    2. Search Directory: A special kind of file used to organize other files into a hierarchical structure. Internet directories begin with broad categories and become more specific as you descend in to the hierarchical list. Examples: Librarians' Index to the Internet, Yahoo, Looksmart, Yahooligans, KidsClick.

    3. Metasearch Engine: A search engine that searches multiple search engines simultaneously. Examples: Dogpile, Ixquick, Vivisimo.

    Suggested Procedure

    Tell students they are going to learn about search tools that are used to search the general web. Also, they are going to look at the types of results they get from the different search tools. This will enable them to search the general web effectively.

    Tapping into Prior Knowledge: Ask students if they have searched the web. Ask them the names of the search tools/engines they have used. Most students will say Yahoo or AltaVista or Google.

    Turn to the definitions of each type of search tool.

    Search Engine - Open another session of your web browser (either Netscape or Internet Explorer). Go to Google ( http://www.google.com).
    • Type in a search that a student had previously done.
    • Ask students how many results were retrieved.
    • Ask students to read the results of the first three hits.
    • When should I use a search engine? When you have a specific topic, one that may be very new and thus not covered in other sources; or when you need quick facts.

    Switch over to the Yahoo results.

    Close out this comparison of directory and search engine results with the point that you may get different results, some may be better than others, so you must evaluate your results and sometimes, if you know very little about a topic, it may be easier to browse through directory listings to retrieve the desired information. Example: If a student needed to write on a topic dealing with marine mammals, but he/she hadn't yet selected an animal, the student could go to a search directory such as Yahooligans (http://www.yahooligans.com) and descend through the broad categories: Science & Nature/Animals/Aquatic Life/Marine Mammals. From there the student could choose from a variety of marine mammals, e.g. whales, seals and sea lions, etc.

    Search Directory - go to Librarians Index to the Internet (http://lii.org/).
    • Demonstrate how a directory works: Broad categories to narrow categories.
    • Type in a search (e.g. bioterrorism, oceanography, California missions, human cloning, affirmative action) and show students what the results look like.
    • Point out that in the results for a search directory, you will see the search path from broad to narrow.
    • Have them note the number of results.

    When should I use a search directory? When you have a broad topic and need to focus it, however, you aren't sure of the different ways to get more specific.

    Metasearch Engines - (Note: Optional for elementary grades)
    Go over the definition of a metasearch engine. Ask students: Why would you try your search in a metasearch engine? Possible responses include:

    • No search engine searches all websites, so this "casts a wider net" retrieving more information.
    • You want to see if websites or web documents are available for a certain topic.
    • If you know little about your topic or in which general search engine to search, this will help you see the best search engine for conducting your search.
    Go to Ixquick (http://www.ixquick.com ) and conduct the same search.

    Assessment

    Either for homework or in class, students will complete the Introduction to Web Search Tools Worksheet either individually or in groups.

    Last Lesson   I   Home   I   Next Lesson


    		This page was last updated February 19, 2002
    This lesson was created to support the AT&T/UCLA Initiatives for 21st Century Literacies.
    General Web Search Tools: An Introduction was created by Stephanie Brasley