Searching the Web is a training programme that will give staff strategies and searching skills to find relevant information on the world wide web. Google is used as the main search engine but you will learn how to apply the same strategies and skills to other search engines.
There are nine modules for staff to work through (as directed by their IS Librarian):
- Overview of Web Searching
- Search Strategies using Google Web Search Engine
- Evaluating the Results
- Refining your search
- Other general web search engines
- Specialist search engines - including Image Search Engines, Google Videos, Google Books, Google Maps and Google Scholar
- Web Directories and Portals
- Evaluating Websites
- How to Cite Web Sources
The module takes you through the reference process: Overview makes sure you have the required technological knowledge and skills to be able to search the web. You will then look at how to analyse a search query, develop search strategies for finding information, how to evaluate your result list and refine your search if needed.
You will also look at specialist search engines suited to different media.
Although we use search engines for most of our queries there are other ways of finding information on the web and we will have a look at these in Web Directories and Portals.
With the plethoria of information available you need to know how to evaluate websites to get accurate and relevant information which is covered in Evaluating Websites.
In How to Cite Web Sources you will look at the standard format for citing websites.
Updated: September 2010
