Web Searching for the Younger Crowd

Web Searching for the Younger Crowd Basic Steps Pick the right words for your search When to use a search engine Search Engines for kids When to use Directories Directories for kids Judging Your Results Is what I found any good? More questions to think about

Basic Steps

1. Pick the right words for your search
2. Choose a search engine or a directory
3. Judge your results

Pick the right words for your search

• What will your search words be?
• Use a few words with the same meaning(synonyms)
• Ask a friend or parent about the search words you have chosen
• Be specific
  • Don’t use “dog” if you want information on “poodles”
• Look at your search results and add new detailed words to your search if you need to get more specific answers
• Be creative! Try using different words or search engines

When to use a search engine

• Your topic is very particular and doesn't cover a big range of things
• You are clueless about the topic or it is unusual
• Your topic is complicated or is made up of a few ideas
• You need quick facts
• You are looking for a specific site/fact/individual/event, etc.

Search Engines for kids

1. Yahoo's search engine for kids aged 7 to 12 http://www.yahooligans.com/
2. Kids(dot)net from Australia http://www.kids.net.au/
3. Ask Jeeves for Kids http://www.ajkids.com/
4. Google with Safe Search filters www.google.com

When to use Directories

• You have a big or general topic that you want to narrow down
• You aren’t sure how make your topic more specific
• You have a “sticky” topic (questionable, political,or gross)
• You want a list of websites recommended by experts
• You want to look through the options
• You want a few trustworthy results

Directories for kids

1. Kids Click http://www.kidsclick.org/
2. IPL (Internet Public Library) www.ipl.org/youth
3. Open Directory Project http://dmoz.org/Kids_and_Teens/
4. Fact Monster http://www.factmonster.com/
5. http://www.aolatschool.com/students
6. Dib Dab Doo http://dibdabdoo.com/
7. First Gov for Kids (the government's site for kids) http://www.kids.gov

Judging Your Results

Is what I found any good?

• Be suspicious—anybody can have a website
• Think critically
• Is the web page as good, or better than, what you could find in a book, magazine or newspaper?
• Websites are guilty until proven innocent
• Use trusted sources (Sites you've heard of before)
• Try to find the same answer in two places

More questions to think about

• Can you find the website's purpose, mission, and intended audience?
• Is the information true fact or just someone's opinion, and is it trustworthy?
• Is the information current? Can you find the date that the webpage was last updated?
• Can you find the author's name on the page?

This is the list of FunSites that we have found so far...