Finding Information

 

1.       listserv or discussion groups – using email to access information, joining a list is normally free.

You can search for a keyword by sending the command
LISTS GLOBAL /KeyWord(s)
to any site that hosts listserv. To search for all lists that deal with education, for example, send the command
LISTS GLOBAL /education in an email message to listserv@listserv.net.

Listservs will list an “administrative address” to request information from the list. There will be a “list address” to use for sending messages to the list.

Use the administrative list to request HELP or a reference card with info refcard

 

http://tile.net/lists/  and  http://www.lsoft.com/lists/listref.html provide lists of lists.

 

http://www.webliminal.com/Lrn-web04.html  Learn more about discussion groups.

  1. Usenet newsgroups – uses a newsreader client, with a very wide range of topics.


Use of newsgroups is similar to discussion groups.  But significant differences lie in the large number of newsgroups, messages are exchanged between users, but are posted somewhat like a bulletin board, and a newsgroup “reader” is required.

Newsreaders are component of Outlook Express and Netscape. Other popular readers include Free Agent at http://www.forteinc.com/agent  and Gravity at http://www.microplanet.com

Newsgroup servers are normally supplied by your ISP.  They typically authenticate your account with a login process.  Find a list of servers at http://tile.net/news/  Try microsoft.public.excel.programming as a news server.

http://www.webliminal.com/Lrn-web05.html Learn more about Usenet newsgroups

  1. Search tools – directories, search engines, meta-search tools

Directories are topical lists of Internet resources, arranged hierarchically to facilitate browsing by subject. Most directories have a search capability, which can help you avoid occasionally becoming lost in arbitrary subject categories. Directories depend on the work of individuals who collect, categorize, maintain, and, in many cases, evaluate Web sites to make it easier for people to find what they are looking for. Because directories rely on people for their selections and maintenance, they are necessarily much smaller than the databases that search-engine spiders or robots create. This difference can be an asset in some cases and a detriment in others. When you are looking for a "few good sites" to start with, a directory can save you time, especially if your subject is broad and you’re at the beginning of your research. Yahoo! http://www.yahoo.com Open Directory Project http://dmoz.org/

Search engines are tools that search databases. These databases have been created by computer programs, commonly referred to as spiders or robots. These spiders go out onto the World Wide Web and put every single word of every Web page they find into a database. With the help of our search request, the search engine then searches this full-text database for us. Some databases are not full-text, but instead consist of selected words from Web documents.

 

In either case, each search engine accesses its database differently. Even though many search engine databases claim to cover as much of the Web as possible, the same search performed in more than one database never returns the same exact results. If you want to do a thorough search, you should become familiar with a few of the different search engines. Toward this end, it is important to understand the major search features, such as Boolean logic, phrase searching, truncation, and others before you get online. It is also necessary to read each search engine’s documentation before you enter the search request in the query box. You may want to check the documentation often, since search engines are constantly changing their search and output features. 

http://www.google.com, http://www.altavista.com , http://www.alltheweb.com,  http://www.hotbot.com/Default.asp,

Search Engine Watch web site, http://searchenginewatch.com/

Meta-search tools – These tools make use of multiple search engines for your keyword search.  The downside is that individual search engines' features may not be fully exploited, so keep search simple. Try http://www.iboogie.tv/ or http://vivisimo.com/ or http://www.metacrawler.com/index.html or

http://www.dogpile.com/index.gsp

  1. Special sites

    Libraries around the world are making their library catalogs compatible with the World Wide Web. These graphical user interface (GUI) systems have made it easier for people to search library catalogs from remote sites.
    Librarian’s Index to the Internet http://lii.org/
    Internet Public Library at     http://www.ipl.org/    
    Birchard Public Library http://birchard.lib.oh.us Catalog access from web, Database searches within the facility.
    Virtual Library http://lawcrawler.findlaw.com/index.html

    Specialized databases are searchable collections on particular subjects. The     U.S. government and nonprofit organizations maintain many of the free, nonproprietary databases on the Web, but commercial databases are also starting to appear with greater frequency.
    PubMed at     http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed
    exCalendar at http://www.excalendar.net
    Thomas at http://thomas.loc.gov
    Scientific Information Only http://www.scirus.com/

Internet Law Sites http://lawcrawler.findlaw.com/index.html

 

 

Basic Search Strategy: The Ten Steps

  1. Identify the important concepts of your search.
  2. Choose the keywords that describe these concepts.
  3. Determine whether there are synonyms, related terms, or other variations of the keywords that should be included.
  4. Determine which search features may apply, including truncation, proximity operators, Boolean operators, and so forth.
  5. Choose a search engine.
  6. Read the search instructions on the search engine’s home page. Look for sections entitled "help," "advanced search," "frequently asked questions," and so forth.
  7. Create a search expression, using syntax that is appropriate for the search engine.
  8. View the results. How many hits were returned? Were the results relevant to your query?
  9. Modify your search if needed. Go back to Steps 2 through 4 and revise your query accordingly.
  10. Try the same search in a different search engine, following Steps 6 through 9 above.

 

 

Search quiz  http://departments.mwc.edu/~ernie/search/q0.html  

Large list of search tools  http://library.lib.binghamton.edu/search/

Online Reference Desk http://www.refdesk.com