Preview of: T180_5 6: Information on the Web


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Introduction

The World Wide Web is a vast information resource. This unit will provide you with the foundation skills to use search engines confidently to locate both information and images on the Web. You will also...


1 Accessing online information

1.1 What this unit is about

In this unit you will be looking at information that can be found on the Web. You may already have explored the Web and discovered what an enormous amount of information it contains. Alternatively you...


2 How to do it

2.1 Introduction

In this section we will cover the following topics:browsing for information on the Web;searching for information on the Web;using search engines;bookmarking websites;finding images on the Web;how to reference...


2.2 Browsing for information on the Web

One way to find what you are looking for on the Web is to start from sites that you know are likely to have useful ‘links’ on them, like the main Open University pages or the Open University Library pages....


2.3 Searching for information on the Web

What do you do if you don't know the URL of the website you are looking for, or haven't been able to browse to it? The Web is not like a library – it isn't carefully organised and catalogued, and it is...


2.4 Using search engines

Search engines can be very good at finding information since they cover such a huge number of web pages. Unfortunately it can be difficult to find the one you want in the huge number of hits that they...


2.5 Bookmarking websites

Most browsers allow you to keep a record of links to websites that you have found useful. These are called ‘Bookmarks’ in Firefox and ‘Favorites’ in Internet Explorer, and may have other names, such as...


2.6 Finding images on the Web

As with websites, one of the easiest ways of searching for images is to use a search engine such as Google. You will see that above the Google search box are some words that allow you to select what you...


2.7 How to reference sources

You have seen how easy it is to find what what you want on the Web. When you quote any information or use any images that you have not written or created yourself it is important to ensure that you reference...


2.8 Reference sourcing quiz

1 When referencing an image what details should be included alongside the image? A The URL of the imageB The file name of the imageC The image URL and the date you accessed the siteD The file...


3 An Internet search example

3.1 Searching for your ancestors

In this section we consider searching for information about your ancestors. We cannot hope to cover all the techniques and information required to research genealogy, family history and local history;...


3.2 General search engines

An immediate temptation is to head straight for a search engine such as Google and enter your family name, but a moment's thought should warn you that the results will be disappointing. This is particularly...


3.3 Focused search sites

An alternative to using general purpose search engines is to make use of focused search engines that only index known genealogical sites. For example, the Genealogical Society of the UK and Ireland (GenUKI)...


3.4 Databases

An alternative to searching by simple text matching is to look inside a database specifically structured for genealogical searching. Probably the largest such database is freely available on the Internet....


3.6 Tracing your family tree

In order to show some of the possibilities provided by the Internet, we have gone straight to searching for material online. A careful family historian would take a more measured approach, starting with...


4 What's going on

4.1 What is a search engine?

Search sites are powered by a search engine: a program that can search for web pages that match your query, and then return a list of hits. The list of hits arrives at your browser as a web page, complete...


4.2 Index

It is not practical for the search engine to go looking at every page on the Web whenever it receives a search request. Instead, the search engine consults a vast index to the Web. This index is prepared...


4.3 Search

When you submit your query, the search engine will look up each word of the query in the index and construct a list of hits. Hits are pages that contain all of the words in your query.StemmingLook at your...


4.4 Quality, not quantity

It is common for a web search to return hundreds, or even millions, of hits; certainly too many to check. But uncannily, the first few hits often contain just what you were looking for. How do search engines...


4.5 What's going on when searching for your ancestors

You have seen how general purpose search engines work. In this section we consider some of the additional techniques that are important to genealogical searches.


4.6 Lineage linked data

Earlier you saw how a genealogical database records relationships between people. A lineage linked database allows queries such as ‘Ada Rosewell the daughter of John Rosewell’ and makes possible the creation...


4.7 Soundex

You will have seen that most genealogical websites and software can match names despite differences in spelling. For example, FamilySearch provides a check box to choose matches using exact spelling; if...


5 What it means

5.1 Pros and cons

Let's start by brainstorming the impact that access to information on the Web has had on you and on the people with whom you are in contact.Make a list of the advantages and disadvantages of getting information...


5.2 Evaluating the quality of information on the Web

The quality of the information you will find on the Web varies enormously as there is no editorial control. Anybody can establish a website, claiming to be whoever they want to be. As Mark Twain put it:A...


5.3 Checklist

The Open Library suggests the following mnemonic to help you: PROMPT, for Presentation Relevance Objectivity Method Provenance TimelinessPoor presentation...


6 Where to learn more

6.1 Various resources

The Spider's Apprentice offers general advice, FAQs and a page on how search engines work. Safari is an interactive website provided by the Open University's Open Libr@ry. Safari covers...


Appendix

The PROMPT checklist

In the table below is a checklist to help you apply the PROMPT criteria, adapted from the Open University Safari. You can use this to help you evaluate a website.


Genealogical resources

This page has links to a number of useful resources on genealogy and family history that may of help to you if you wish to research your family tree. Some of these resources are free to use; others are...


Acknowledgements