Internet Searching
**Kid Safe Search Tool
http://webquest.sdsu.edu/searching/fournets.htm 4Nets for Better Searching, from the WebQuest site at San Diego University, provides tips to fine tune a web search. It also includes a worksheet that allows students and/or teachers to record search results. There is also a link to Specialized Search Engines.
http://www.altavista.com/ AltaVista, one of the first search engines.
http://www.answers.com Answers.com searches various reference sites and provides fairly "safe" searches.
http://www.askforkids.com/ "Ask for Kids (formerly known as Ask Jeeves for Kids) is a fast, easy and kid-friendly way for kids to search online."**
http://search.ask.com/ "Ask's ExpertRank algorithm provides relevant search results by identifying the most authoritative sites on the Web. With Ask search technology, it's not just about who's biggest: it's about who's best. Our ExpertRank algorithm goes beyond mere link popularity (which ranks pages based on the sheer volume of links pointing to a particular page) to determine popularity among pages considered to be experts on the topic of your search. This is known as subject-specific popularity." Don't forget the section just for kids. **
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/ UC Berkeley's Internet guides.
http://www.google.com Google- the famous search engine. Don't forget to check out the Image Search , Help Center and the Advanced Search Tips. Click More to find out what else Google has to offer. Finally, this very popular tool has a section just for kids and teenagers.
http://kids.ithaki.net/ "Ithaki 4 KiDs helps you to find the best sites just for kids via searching in real time several search engines for kids like DmozKids, Yahooligans, FactMonster, ArtKIDSRule, AolKIDS, AwesomeLibrary & KidsClick!"
http://www.kidsclick.org/ "KidsClick! was created by a group of librarians at the Ramapo Catskill Library System, as a logical step in addressing concerns about the role of public libraries in guiding their young users to valuable and age appropriate web sites." **
http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html Noodle Tools advice on locating the best search tool for your purpose.
http://redzee.com/ "RedZee Search is a family-oriented search engine. Our mission is to provide the most relevant results possible so that you find what you are looking for fast." **
http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/yp/iypsrch.html Kathy Schrock's Internet Search Guide is a great place to find links to Search Strategies, the Invisible Web, and great web related articles.
http://searchenginewatch.com/ Search Engine Watch is for those who want to keep current in this ever-changing area.
http://www.tekmom.com/search/ Safe searching from TekMom. **
http://www.internettutorials.net/engines.html University of Albany's comprehensive list of search tools and the like.
http://onekey.com/ "OneKey partnered with Google.com provides the largest database of kid safe sites. With a resource library that has the best that the Net has to offer, OneKey is the best starting point for users that are tired of looking for information on their own. Information is power and OneKey unlocks the power of the Net." **
http://kids.yahoo.com/ Yahoo's web tool for kids.**
Website Evaluation
http://www.altavista.com/web/domains Internet Country Codes for URL, inURL, Host and Domain searches.
http://viz.globe.gov/viz-bin/show.cgi?l=en&b=g&rg=n&enc=00&nav=1&page=help-states.ht US State Internet Codes for Host and Domain searches.
http://www.computeruser.com/resources/dictionary/noframes/nf.domains.html More Internet Codes.
http://www.shsu.edu/~lis_mah/documents/TCEA/hoaxtable.html Dr. Mary Ann Bell's Teaching Web Evaluation Using Hoax Sites. Lots of fun, but preview the sites for age appropriate lessons.
http://mciunix.mciu.k12.pa.us/%7espjvweb/evalwebteach.html Joyce Valenza's WebQuest on evaluating websites.
http://novemberlearning.com/default.aspx?tabid=159&type=art&site=19&parentid=18 Alan November's article, Teaching Zack to Think, is an oldie but goodie. A must read for all.
http://www.teachersfirst.com/tutorial/url-new.shtml The anatomy of a URL can be helpful. " Knowing beforehand that a web site is not what you are looking for because you can see that by reading the URL can be a real time saver."
http://www.easywhois.com/ Find out just who owns that site using easyWhoIs. Then search the owner to get some clue as to whether or not the site can be trusted.
http://kathyschrock.net/abceval/ Kathy Schrock's handouts and links on website evaluation. These links include her article, Teaching Media Literacy in the Age of the Internet; The ABC's of Website Evaluation.
http://www.lib.purdue.edu/ugrl/staff/sharkey/interneteval/index.html Purdue University's tutorial, worksheets and resources regarding this topic.
http://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm Robert Harris gives us the CARS acronym which stands for Credibility, Accuracy, Reasonableness and Support.
