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What is the Internet?. It is the world-wide distributed network of computers It has no central control - works through the cooperation of network administrators. Benefits of using Internet. Communication locally / internationally faster and more cost effective
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What is the Internet? • It is the world-wide distributed network of computers • It has no central control - works through the cooperation of network administrators
Benefits of using Internet • Communication locally / internationally faster and more cost effective • Long distance telephone charges eliminated by using e-mail • Creates better informed staff/students with access to resources not otherwise available • Good for advertising services / facilities offered by institutions/companies
Bookmarks / Favourites • Bookmark your favourite URL’s for direct access with only a click
Search Engines • Search engines help you to sort through the masses of information on the WEB • Major search engines are: Google, Yahoo, HotBot
Which search engine is the biggest / best? • Search engines are constantly evolving : competition is fierce • Some handle boolean queries better e.g. Yahoo, MSN, Gigablast. • Some better on relevance ranking e.g. Google • Some more user friendly e.g. Ask Jeeves - but results not as good as larger search engines
Comparing search engines • Very few standards in place • Each search engine has own way of dealing with: • Boolean logic • Truncation • Phrase searching • Case sensitivity • Sorting by: date, site, categories, etc • Use HELP files
This website is periodically updated and groups the search engines by size • Also compares search features • By clicking on “Review” a complete update of search engine is provided
General search requesting 4 terms to be present 1650 websites retrieved!
Most hits are journal articles Can also do an advanced search
Google Scholar • Retrieves more relevant and peer-reviewed documents • Any articles from ejournals to which the University Library subscribes will be available in full text on-campus only
Quality • How up-to-date are the links? • Is the resource full text? • Is the Internet version of resource current, e.g. dictionaries • How comprehensive is this site? • Is the resource available from or pointed to by multiple Internet sites? • Who is the author or producer? • Was content developed by an academic institution/commercial enterprisewith established reputation?
Quality (cont) • Does resource stay current through regular updates or demonstrate on-going maintenanceWas the content peer-reviewed by experts in field? • What are dates of coverage ? • Is any sort of bias evident? • When was the Web item produced? • When was the Web item last revised? • Is contact information for author/producer included?
Conclusion • The Internet is a rich source of information, which can be used to great advantage. However, because there is no control over the material that is placed on the Internet, evaluate any information very carefully. • Main method of retrieving peer reviewed academic information is from computerized databases. e.g. Medline