Reveling in research

The previous 2 weeks in our Ed Tech class was learning about searching for information on the web and in licensed periodical databases. I was already pretty proficient at searching the web although I admit to having never looked at the online help for any of the search engines. When I did that on yahoo and google, I found so many cool short-cut features. I already knew about and used several of the features, like automatic conversions, but I found so many others like:

• equation calculation
• use of the ~ character for synonym searching
• typing a business category and zip code gives websites, maps, reviews, and contact information
• flight status
• tracking numbers for UPS, Fedex, USPS
• typed before a web address gives a list of pages with similar content

(the <> characters are just to separate what you type from my other text. You don't actually type them)

I think a positive for web searching is availability of information of all kinds literally at our fingertips. On the same token though, the large amount of information could be overwhelming or tiresome when having to sift through non-pertinent information and evaluating each site for validity. I usually only pick from first or second page search results and often times wonder if I've let a jewel slip out of my hands by not making it to the third page. In my own practice, I will still search the web first to see what's available and for it's quick-access, but then depending on my topic, I will absolutely head over to the licensed periodical databases, where searches can be easily narrowed and the validity can be more quickly determined. And now that I understand and can use RSS feeds, I will no longer have to visit certain sites separately when looking for information, but will be able to save time by scanning my favorite webblog sites via google reader. In my book, anything that saves me time and maintains accuracy is invaluable!!!