1. Creative
Search
Methods
http://flic.kr/p/9pyXKZ

2. A Frame of Reference
http://youtu.be/BNHR6IQJGZs

3. Preparing Your Canvas
• What do you really need
to know?
– Questions to answer
• List of key words
– Synonyms
– Alternate phrasing
Microsoft Office

4. Sketching Your Search
• Simple Search Engine
• Simple Search Terms
• Get a baseline of results
Microsoft Office

5. Gluing Terms Together
• Quotation Marks
–
–
–
–
“Georgia State University”
“University of Georgia”
“Georgia Southern University”
“University of West Georgia”
http://goo.gl/5Z3zWI

6. Sculpting Your Search
• Using advanced search tools
– Google Advanced Search
– Yahoo
• What do you NOT mean?
–Synonyms
–Reading levels
Microsoft Office

7. Cutting Out the Junk
• Ads
• Anything that would let YOU, a middle
school student, be the authority on a
topic.
– Yahoo Answers
– Wiki-pretty much
anything.
We will discuss Wikipedia separately.
Microsoft Office

8. Adding Variety
• Different search engines
return different results.
– Bing vs Google
– SweetSearch
– NetTrekker (in CDL)
• Databases
– CDL-MackinVia
http://flic.kr/p/ukiwH
• EBSCO
• Gale
• Opposing Viewpoints

9. Back to the Drawing Board
• If you have not found what you are
looking for in the first 10 to 20 sites, give
it up.
– Reformulate your search
– Try another search tool
Microsoft Office

10. Don’t use a
limited
palette.
Microsoft Office

11. Resources
• http://hanlib.sou.edu/searchtools/searchtips.html
• http://mediasmarts.ca/tipsheet/how-searchinternet-effectively
• http://websearch.about.com/od/searchingthew
eb/a/sevenhabits.htm
• http://websearch.about.com/od/enginesanddire
ctories/p/websearch101.htm
• http://websearch.about.com/library/cheatsheet/
blgooglecheatsheet.htm
• http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/22/just
-google-it-developing-internet-search-skills/?_r=0