L SC-311-02: Information Literacy
Hands-on #7: Searching the Web
Assigned: October 19, 1998
Due: October 26, 1998
Points: 35

Part 1: Subject Directories

URL of subject guide:

Title of subject guide:

Last update:

2. Find three web pages, including one critical review, that discuss the classic 1941 film, Citizen Kane by using InfoSeek http://www.infoseek.com. How did you formulate the search (i.e., what was was your search strategy)? Note with an asterisk (*) which URL and title is the critical review.

Search Strategy:

1st URL & Title:

2nd URL & Title:

3rd URL & Title:

3. Use the Librarians' Index to the Internet, http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/InternetIndex/ and look for the "Blue Book" for automobiles. Search by keyword search and also by browsing through the subject categories. Which method took longer (i.e., the most steps/mouse clicks/screen scrolling)? Which method do you prefer?

URL:

Title:

Longest method:

Preferred method:

4. Go to Yahoo! http://www.yahoo.com and browse the directory for a list of homebrewer's organizations. Don't search by keyword; drill down through the subject categories. Write down the top-level category and all the subcategories you clicked on to reach the list.
HINT! The most effective method shows four category levels. I've listed six here because if you don't choose the correct top level, it takes a bit longer to drill down.

Top Category:

Next Category:

Next Category:

Next Category:

Next Category:

Next Category:

Part 2: Search Engines

Altavista at http://altavista.digital.com
URL:

Title:

Excite at http://www.excite.com
URL:

Title:

HotBot at http://www.hotbot.com
URL:

Title:

2. Use both Altavista and Northern Light to find two relevant resources from each on literary criticism of Jack London For both search engines, write down your search strategy/search statement, the title and urls for the two relevant sites. For both search engines note any problems you encountered or search modifications, note whether many of the results listed were similar in each search engine. Did you notice anything different with Northern Light?

Altavista at http://altavista.digital.com
Search Strategy:

1st Title:

1st URL:

2nd Title:

2nd URL:

Problems/Comments:

Northern Light at http://www.northernlight.com
Search Strategy:

1st Title:

1st URL:

2nd Title:

2nd URL:

Problems/Comments:

3. You are looking for a picture of St. Catherine's Monastery, located in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. Try to find it in any of the major search engines on your lists (green and tan). Which search engine did you use? Write down the name of the search engine in which you found it and the search expression you used. Try to find some information about the monastery. What famous mountain is located there?

Search Engines used:

Search Engine that worked:

Search Strategy:

Info on monastery:

Famous mountain:

Problem sets taken from:
Ackerman, Ernest and Karen Hartman. Searching & Researching on the Internet & World Wide Web. Wilsonville: Franklin, Beadle, 1997.

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by Susan E. Beck
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, NM

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