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Sites on How to Search and Evaluate the Web

How to Search the Web   |   How to Evaluate Web Sites
Rating Search Tools  |  Citing Web Sites

How to Search the Web
Some of the links below are tutorials-- either ones you can engage online or handouts you can print out and use.  If you believe you need more guidance, come to the reference desk or consider taking the Internet Skills course offered by Chabot College Library.

Bare Bones 101

      http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/bones.html
A tutorial on searching the World Wide Web at the beginner's level
 

Findspot

        http://www.findspot.com
A tutorial on how to search the Web.  Click on the name of the search engine and Findspot will provide you with the search syntax for the most basic types of search strategies.  In the yellow box on the right, Findspot gives further tips of searching in that particular search engine.  Enter your search statement, click search and a new window will open up into the search engine or directory with the search already performed
 

Internet FAQ

        http://www.purefiction.com/pages/res1.htm
Frequently Asked Questions on Internet Searching, such as "How Can I Find Specific Information" and "Why Use the Internet At All?"  NOTE: Website is down as of 12/10/02.
 

Finding Information on the Internet: A Tutorial

       http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html
From UC Berkeley, includes tutorials on basic and advanced searching as well as evaluation of web sites.
 

Finding it Online: Web Search Strategies

        http://home.sprintmail.com/~debflanagan/main.html
This tutorial focuses on the different types of Internet Search tools and also provides step by step tutorials while you are searching the more popular search engines and web directories
 

Basic Internet Searching

        http://www.lib.montana.edu/~notess/li/basicsearch.html
In three lessons, learn how to read URL's, develop search statements, and perform searches in particular search engines and web directories
   

Searching the Web

        http://www.chabotcollege.edu/Library/abby/searchtips.html
From Chabot College Library's Internet Skills course, this is an online version to a handout on coming up with a search strategy and tips on how to search a search engine
 

World Wide Web Worksheet

        http://www.chabotcollege.edu/Library/handouts/wwwworksheet.html
Designed by Norman Buchwald, Information Literacy and Technology Librarian at Chabot College Library, this worksheet is a good tool to print out and use while searching the World Wide Web for a research assignment
 

 Optimizing Your Web Experience (Searching and Evaluating the Web Handout)

      http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/library/workshops/optimizeweb/optimize.pdf
From the University of Arizona, this is a handout that librarians use to teach a one hour and a half course on
searching and evaluating the Web.   You need Adobe Acrobat to view this page.

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How to Evaluate Web Sites

Web Evaluation Checklist
         http://www.chabotcollege.edu/Library/abby/evaluation.html
Use to evaluate the quality of a relevant web site you have found.
 

Thinking Critically of World Wide Web Resources

        http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/critical/index.htm
From Esther Grassian, Bibliographic Instruction Librarian from UCLA's College Library, an excellent handout on how to evaluate web sites effectively.  Also has a separate list of guidelines for discipline based web sites
 

Evaluating Web Resources

        http://libweb.sonoma.edu/web/eval.html
Another excellent checklist for evaluating web resources.  Each principle of web evaluation is followed by links to actual sites where you can practice your evaluating skills
 

Evaluating Web Resources

        http://www2.widener.edu/Wolfgram-Memorial-Library/webevaluation/webeval.htm
This web page provides excellent worksheets for recognizing different types of web sites:  Advocacy, Business/Marketing, News, Informational, and Personal.  Includes links to actual web pages to practice
 

Evaluating Web Pages: Experience Why It Is Important

        http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html
An excellent exercise on comparing and contrasting web sites on similar topics.  From UC Berkeley Libraries
 

Evaluating Internet Based Information

        http://lme.mankato.msus.edu/class/629/cred.html
Tips and advice given by librarians all over the country.  Below the list of links to articles is a list of links to both legitimate and bogus web sites, sometimes on the same subject
 

Evaluating Quality on the Net

        http://www.hopetillman.com/findqual.html
An excellent paper about evaluating quality on the Internet, especially comparing print documents and to their likely equivalents online
 

Evaluating Web Sites

        http://www.chabotcollege.edu/Library/abby/evaluating.html
This handout gives you clues on how to evaluate web sites, including understanding the very structure of most web pages, themselves as well as URL's
 

Optimizing Your Web Experience (Searching and Evaluating the Web Handout)

      http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/library/workshops/optimizeweb/optimize.pdf
From the University of Arizona, this is a handout that librarians use to teach a one hour and a half course on
searching and evaluating the Web.   You need Adobe Acrobat to view this page.
 

World Wide Web Worksheet

        http://www.chabotcollege.edu/Library/handouts/wwwworksheet.html
Designed by Norman Buchwald, Information Literacy and Technology Librarian at Chabot College Library, this worksheet is a good tool to print out and use while searching the World Wide Web for a research assignment

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Search Engine Showdown

        http://searchengineshowdown.com/
Covering and writing about Interenet information resources since 1990, Greg Notess, a university reference librarian, has provided this excellent web site that reviews, compares, and provides indepth information, including continuing to measure search engines' results, providing excellent reviews, and going into detail how to search widely used search engines
 

Search Engine Watch

        http://searchenginewatch.com/
Search Engine Watch is an online publication devoted to search engines.  It is founded by Danny Sullivan, an Internet Consultant and Journalist.  Learn the latest news about search engines, get tips to search engines and read ratings and reviews.  You can search the entire site by scrolling to the bottom of the page.  Some information requires you to be an official subscriber to Search Engine Watch

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