m5

=**Module 5: Information Fluency**=

**__Standards Addressed__**

 * ==**3**== || ==**Research and Information Fluency**== || ===**3. Using the Internet:**=== ||
 * || Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students: || a. Identify different types of information sources on the Internet ||
 * a. || plan strategies to guide inquiry. || b. Be able to use a Web browsing application ||
 * b. || locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media. || c. Be able to search the Internet for information ||
 * c. || evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks. || ===**4. The Impact of Computing and the Internet on Society:**=== ||
 * d. || process data and report results. || a. Identify how computers are used in different areas of work, school, and home ||

**__Presentation of Material__**

 * Information literacy** is the ability to identify what information is needed, understand how the information is organized, identify the best sources of information for a given need, locate those sources, evaluate the sources critically, and share that information. **Information fluency** is the ability to analyze information needs and to move confidently among media, information and computer literacy skills resulting in the effective application of a strategy or strategies that will best meet those needs. The difference between someone who is "literate" and someone who is "fluent" in something is one of maturity, or a deeper level of skills and consistent application. In this module, we'll be developing information literacy skills with the ultimate goal of becoming fluent with information and today's technologies. Go through the questions and activities below, keeping track of your answers in a Word document. Upload your completed document to the Dropbox.

For a list of search engines, directories, meta-search engines and all their functions, check [] or [] Specialized Search Tools: [] []
 * 1. What four major search engines can you think of? Many people tend to just use the same search tool (Google, for example) over and over without realizing there are many more options.**
 * Activity #1: Try a few of these tools you've never heard of. List the ones you tried and your impressions of it.**

Use “quotation marks” to ensure your keywords appear in your search results in the order you have specified. You would use them if you wanted to research a given phrase. For example, if you conduct a search for global warming, a search WITHOUT quotation marks would find sites that include the words “global” AND “warming” – the words do not have to appear together and you will get more hits than you probably want.
 * 2. Why might you use quotation marks when conducting a search?**
 * Activity #2: Go to the Teoma search engine at http://www.teoma.com and search for a phrase, such as renewable resources without quotation marks, then with quotation marks. Note the differences in the number of results.**

You can use the words AND, OR, NOT (supposed to be all in caps) between search terms to get better results. Here's how they work:
 * 3.** **What is Boolean logic, and how can it help me search better?**

**The AND Operator**
AND searches for all the words located anywhere in a document. AND limits your results. It is the default operator for most meta-search tools. //Search example// **king AND dream** //Retrieves// **Dr. King and his Dream** and **M.L. King - I have a dream** //Does not retrieve// **Disney's Lion King** or **ML King biography** or **Dream states in psychology**

OR searches for some or all words present in a document. Think of an OR search and an "either/or/all" search. OR expands your results. It is the default operator for many search engines //Search example// **king OR dream** //Retrieves// **Disney's Lion King, Dr. King and his Dream,** **Dream states in psychology****, M.L. King - I have a dream,** and **ML King biography**
 * The OR Operator**

NOT eliminates words that must not be in a document. NOT limits your results and eliminates a lot of non-useful results. //Search example// **king NOT dream** //Retrieves// **Disney's Lion King** and **ML King biography** //Does not retrieve// **Dr. King and his Dream** or **M.L. King - I have a dream
 * The NOT Operator**

Here's an image illustrating the above information:** Activity #3: a. Try a search using Boolean operators on your favorite search engine. b. Access the search engine Boolify at http://boolify.com. You'll drag the puzzle pieces into the open space, and the search results show up at the bottom. c. How successful has this strategy been for you?
 * [[image:boolean.gif caption="Boolean operators"]]

4. Did you ever wonder who actually owned a particular website?** The search tool Easy Who Is allows you to discover the individual or organization's name who has paid for the particular URL.
 * Activity #4: Go to [|www.easywhois.com] and enter the URL of a site you wonder about.**

Activity #5:** **Use your developing search skills to find the intended use of the following:**
 * 5. Generic top level domains are the ".com" part of a URL. There are many different options.

.aero .asia .biz .com .coop .edu.gov .info .jobs .k12 .mil .mobi .museum .name .net .org .pro .sch .tel .travel

Go to Alta Vista: [|www.altavista.com] and type host:ac.za in the search box**.** For a full list go to Computer User High-Tech Dictionary: []
 * 6. How would you conduct a search for the following: a list of Web sites of all the academic institutions in South Africa? (Hint: South Africa’s country code is .za)**
 * Activity #6: Create your own search specific to a certain country and report the results.**

Go to Alta Vista: [|www.altavista.com] and type “host:edu + turtle” in the search box.
 * 7. How would you conduct a search for the following: US higher education Web sites that contain the word turtle.**
 * Activity #7: Create your own search specific to a certain top level domain and report the results.**

There are so many ways to save your search time in Google. Here are some of the search features you need to know about: http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/features.html
 * 8. Have you ever used Google as a calculator?**
 * Activity #8: try out at least five of the features and report them for this activity.**


 * Summary** - We hope what you've learned in this module includes some very specific strategies for more effective and efficient searching and has opened your mind to the many possibilities there are out there.
 * Activities #9 and #10: Share with two different people two different search strategies or tools you've learned in this module. Report.**


 * Bonus Activity: Create your own personalized search engine at: http://www.google.com/cse/?hl=en**

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