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The Internet is composed of billions of Web
pages, all vying for your attention. Search engines provide a way to find the
billions of sites and narrow them to meet your needs. Search engines are developed
through computer programs. Computer programs are written that go out and search the
Web, based on certain criteria. These programs are called worms, or spiders, or
robots. They retrieve information and index it so that it can be searched.
Since computer programs are going out and searching the Web, the materials they bring back
meet the computer's criteria, not any human criteria. This allows people with
knowledge of search criteria to insert phony or irrelevant words in their Web page and
increase the chance of that page getting "hits". If you are creating Web
pages, chances are that certain key words in your Web page will be trapped by a robot, or
worm, or spider and it will be indexed and searchable through that database. This is
the power behind the Web. Power, however, requires responsibility. A Web page
with your child's name on it has the potential, once it has been posted, of being
searched. Kids need to understand that and think about whether what they are saying
is worthy of publication. If not, maybe just keeping the information on disk, or on
the hard drive will be enough.
Safety
Safety becomes an issue when searches are
conducted for inappropriate material, or inappropriate materials are delivered when a
search is conducted. To limit the chance of this happening, certain search engines
offer search sites for kids, which limit the type of information, or offer filtered
search options. While the information compiled by search engines is done
electronically, filters tend to use a combination of software and human editing processes.
Most kids' sites and filtered sites can be
gotten around, if that is the desire. None of the sites guarantees that all
inappropriate information will be blocked. It is the responsibility of parents and
kids to voice opinions, and let the companies know when unacceptable information has
gotten through the filters. If a student happens upon a site that has inappropriate
advertising, or other objectionable material, when using a filtered search, they should go
tell their parents, or move on to another site. |
Search Engines:
There are three different ways to search the web.
Subject directories, search engines and metasearch engines. The following table only
gives brief information, and does not intend or pretend to be a definitive guide. It
is a sampling of links, and a smattering of information to introduce the wonderful world
of World-Wide Web searching!
| Types of search tools |
Subject Directories |
Search Engines |
Meta Search Engines |
| Description |
Subject directories select other Web sites and
organize them under broad subject headings. Subject directories only cover a small
percentage of total Web pages. |
Search engines attempt to index every word of
every Web page. However, even the largest search engines index only about 60-80
percent of the Web. The manner in which the search engine collects and stores data,
and other factors can cause very different results between search engines. |
Meta search engines search other search engines.
This allows for one-stop typing, but does not usually offer the same advanced level
searching that can be done at individual search sites. This could be the way of the
future, but can be information overload at the moment. |
| Uses |
Use these when you have broad subject searches,
and are unsure of specific areas. A great place to start when looking or narrowing a
research project. |
Use these when you have a good sense of what you
are searching for. The more specific keywords you have, the better your searching
will be. |
Use these when you need to conduct extensive
research. It will give you much information in a short amount of time.
Remember, information overload is a possibility! |
| Types |
Yahoo: www.yahoo.com Magellan Internet Guide: www.mckinley.com
The Argus ClearingHouse: www.clearinghouse.net |
AltaVista: www.altavista.com HotBot: www.hotbot.com
Northern Light: www.nlsearch.com
Excite: www.excite.com
(can get directory information, but not solely a directory) |
Dogpile: www.dogpile.comMetaCrawler: www.metacrawler.com
Ask Jeeves: http://www.askjeeves.com/
|
In using any of these databases, please remember that one
search will not give extensive coverage. A variety of searches, using a combined set
of tools will allow for better information gathering.
Filtering while searching:
The Internet provides a powerful search tool, and with that
power comes added responsibility. To help allow children to search the Internet
safely, certain providers have added filters to their Search Engines. These filters
can protect against some of the sites that parents may deem offensive, or obscene.
However, filters can only do half the job. If a child is determined to find
"interesting" materials, then search engine filters will not be enough.
Individual responsibility will be required.
| Search tools for kids |
AskJeeves for Kids |
Yahooligans |
AltaVista Family Filter |
| Description |
AskJeeves kids information is gathered by
humans, not by computer. This limits the number of web pages indexed, but it also
allows for more extensive evaluation of the site. They claim to give the one
best answer to a query. This is not really possible (and they do not), but the sites
are indexed and the information given is usually reliable. |
Yahooligans functions as a Subject Directory for
kids. The information found there is arranged by subject, and is intended for
students ages 7-12. Since it is a subject directory, the information can be limited.
For example, there were no hits for breast cancer, and very few for Kosovo. |
AltaVista Family Filter is a filter that you can
activate and password protect on the regular AltaVista search engine. While it does
reduce the majority of inappropriate material, not all material will necessarily be
filtered out. |
| Uses |
AskJeeves for Kids attempts to limit the number
of hits, so that younger children will not be overwhelmed with information. This is
a good place for Middle School children to conduct research. Watch out for advertising,
though! |
Yahooligans is geared for the younger web user,
and limits sites accordingly. This would not be the best site to use if doing
research for a school project at the high school level, but would be great for general
surfing. |
AltaVista Family Filter returned the most hits
for information. This would be a good place to begin searching for information for a
major research project, but should NOT be the only place used! |
| Address |
Ask Jeeves www.ajkids.com
|
Yahooligans www.yahooligans.com |
AltaVista family filter: www.altavista.com |
Added information:
If you are interested, on-line encyclopedias can also
provide searching tools. Encyclopedia Britannica
is a free, and very good example.
Academic Honesty:
Search tools can be a wonderful resource for
research. Unfortunately, they can also provide easy access to other
student's work, and even Web sites that provide term papers to students, either
free of cost, or for a charge. While most sites claim that they are merely
giving examples of work, and that pages should not be turned in as an
individual's own work, this has been known to happen. There are a variety
of sites that provide term papers, such as schoolsucks.com. The best way
to combat this is to be aware that these sites exist, and keep open
communication with your student. This is just another example of the
importance of personal responsibility! Cary Academy provides more
information on plagiarism
and copyright.
Additional Resources
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