SEARCHING
Posted by Lois on 4th August 2008
Learning to use some specialised search engines is probably like teaching yourself the keystroke shortcuts for your favourite functions.
The EdTech crew mentioned the PDF search engine that would be the most direct way to find “how to” documents. (Or apparently an advanced search on Google)
Similicio.us is a search engine that finds sites that are similar to or have the same Delicious tags as another site. Apart from the obvious uses the Smart Board Podcast people quite cleverly suggested that this would be an excellent resource for students in developing critical literacy. By looking for similar sites the students would be able compare information from different sources and perspectives. The example given was to search for similar news sites to compare a news item. An item from CNN could be compared to the same event from BBC NEWS, The New York Times, Wired News and The Washington Post etc. I have added Similico.us to my Firefox tool bar so I won’t forget to try it out.
Resource: 50 great search engines every librarian should know about
I’ve started a Delicious account for my school this week and I have been busy collecting links to the sites that have been scattered over numerous documents so that they sit in one place. The advantage with Delicious over our school intranet is:
- that the tags will make it easy for teachers to find sites that are relevant to the inquiry units of study,
- and in two years time when the units are being rewritten the links are in one place and can be easily revaluated
- teachers can add links easily from home or school to one central position with the appropriate tag
- using Delicious tags at school will help teachers move forward in understanding Web 2.0 tool.
Of course the next thing to do is PD with the staff!
Posted in Staff PD, web2.0 | No Comments »
