Searching and Researching the World Wide: Emphasis on Christian Websites

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Searching and Researching the World Wide
Emphasis on Christian Websites

• Developed from the book
• Searching and Researching on the Internet and
  World Wide Web
• By Ernest Ackermann Karen Hartman
• Mary Washington College

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Getting StartedBasics of the Internet and the
World Wide Web

• Topic Areas
• The World Wide Web as an Information Resource
• Hypertext and Hypermedia
• Key Terms and Concepts
• Information Sources Available on the Web

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The World Wide Web as an Information Resource

• The Internet is an international collection of
  computer networks that exchange information.
• The World Wide Web is the collection of
  information found on the Internet, linked
  together by hyperlinks.
• Each link is specified or written using a Uniform
  Resource Locator, or URL.

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Hypertext and Hypermedia

• Hypertext describes text that contains hyperlinks
  to other text.
• Hypermedia refers to information that links to
  text, video, or sound.

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Key Terms and Concepts

• Client/Server
• HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
• HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)
• URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
• Error Messages
• Bookmarks and Favorites

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Client/Server

• A relationship in which one system requests
  information and another provides it.
• The browser is the client, and a computer at the
  site that provides the information is the server.

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HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)

• Documents or files are passed from a server to a
  client according to specific rules for exchanging
  information.
• These rules are called protocols.
• The Web uses the HTTP protocol because the items
  passed from one computer to another are in
  hypertext or hypermedia form.

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HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)

• Provides formal rules that govern how text is
  displayed as part of a Web page.
• The browser interprets an HTML files contents so
  that graphics and images are displayed along with
  the text.

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URL (Uniform Resource Locator)

• Hyperlinks are represented in a specific format
  called a URL.
• Each Web page has a URL as its address.
• The URLs that point to Web pages all start with
  http//

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Error Messages

• 404 Errors occur when the URL is incorrect, or if
  it is no longer available.
• A 403 Forbidden Error means that the URL was
  correct and the file is on the server, but the
  file is not available to the public.
• It is rare to see error numbers today. Most
  browsers provide a more user-friendly error
  message.

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Bookmarks and Favorites

• Use bookmarks and favorites to save hyperlinks
  for later reference.
• Mozilla calls them Bookmarks.
• Internet Explorer calls them Favorites.
• Youll find that you use similar techniques for
  either bookmarks or favorites.

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Information Sources on the Web

• Directories or subject catalogs
• Search engines
• Meta-search tools
• Virtual libraries
• Specialized databases
• Library catalogs
• FTP archives
• Email discussion groups
• Usenet newsgroups

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Using the World Wide Web for Research

• Topic Headings
• Browsing the World Wide Web Using Directories
• Finding Information Gems in Virtual Libraries
• Searching the World Wide Web
• Using Search Engines
• Finding fewer, but more relevant pages using
  Advanced Search features.

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Browsing the World Wide Web Using Directories

• Directories are topic lists of selected Web
  resources, arranged in a hierarchical way.
• Directories can be browsed by category or
  searched by keyword.
• Once very popular, directories are not used as
  much (Yahoo! Had one of the most popular) but are
  useful if you want to do a quick search on a
  topic. The Open Directory Project,
  http//dmoz.org.

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Finding Information Gems in Virtual Libraries

• Virtual libraries are directories that contain
  collections of evaluated resources that have
  carefully selected by information specialists.
• Subject guides, reference works, and specialized
  databases, are most likely found in virtual
  libraries.
• Two popular virtual libraries are the Internet
  Public Library, http//ipl.org, and the
  Librarians Index to the Internet,
  http//lii.org.

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Searching the World Wide Web Using Search Engines

• Search engines use computer programs called
  spiders or robots to gather information on the
  Internet.
• The information is kept in a database that is
  searchable.
• Two popular search engines are, and Yahoo!,
  http//www.yahoo.com, and Google,
  http//www.google.com

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Advanced Searching

• A simple search often yields too many websites,
  many only tangentially related to your topic.
• To get better search results, use the Advanced
  Search option.

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Advanced Search Link
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Advanced Search Options
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Advanced Search Options

• AND Search with all of the wordsAll of the
  search words must be in the web page for it to
  come up.
• OR Search with at least one of the words Only
  one of the search words must be in the web page
  for it to come up.

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Advanced Search Options

• PHRASE Search with the exact phrase Exact
  phrase must be in the web page for it to come up.
• NOT Operator without the words A web page will
  be excluded if any of the words are found on it.

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Advanced Search Options

• When to use/not use
• Do And searches with key words relating to your
  topic.
• Try and avoid doing an OR search. It will
  likely find too many irrelevant web pages.
• If a Phrase or And search produces no
  results, then try doing an OR search.

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Advanced Search Options

• A Phrase search is ideal when searching for
  information on a person or title.
• The Not operator can help you filter out pages
  not relevant to your search.
• Examples

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Other Advanced Search Options

• Language Specify only English or perhaps another
  language, if its a foreign language class.
• File Format Looking for a .PDF or a Power Point
  presentation? Specify the file format you want.
• Date Filter out pages not updated recently. Can
  be useful when researching current events.

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Other Advanced Search Options

• Occurrences Where are your search terms in the
  page?
• Title Good way to narrow down pages.
• Text Likely to be too broad.
• URL Likely to be too narrow.
• Links in page References to other pages.

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Other Advanced Search Options

• Domain Limit search to a WWW Domain
• .ORG Non-profits.
• .GOV U.S. Government run websites.
• .EDU Web pages of colleges and other educational
  institutions.
• .NET ISPs, Networking companies.

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Other Advanced Search Options

• Usage Rights Different websites permit different
  levels of usage of their content. When properly
  cited, almost all web content falls within fair
  use.
• Safe Search Exclude sites that contain
  objectionable content.

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Favorite Christian Websites

• http//www.biblegateway.com/ Has every major
  translation of the Bible. Search by verse or
  search by word/phrase.
• http//www.cyberhymnal.org/Has most hymns
  music, lyrics, as well a story behind the hymn.