Internet Training Workbook -- Get PHIT
Internet Training Workbook: Get PHIT! - Public Health Internet Training
This course was developed by:
Lynne M. Fox, AMLS, MA, AHIP
Denison Memorial Library, University of Colorado, Denver and the Health Sciences Center
With assistance from:
Linda Buzard RN,BSN,MPH
Cindi C. Culkin, M.Ed.
Public Health Consultant
Kathy I. Kennedy, DrPH,
Associate Clinical Professor, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center
Director, Regional Institute for Health and Environmental Leadership, University of Denver
This course was developed with Health Alert Network Training funds through a grant from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment - [pic]
© 2003, Lynne M. Fox, Reference Services and Outreach Librarian, Denison Memorial Library, University of Colorado, Denver and the Health Sciences Center.
Permission for reprint or use should be obtained from:
The Regional Institute for Health and Environmental Leadership, University of Denver
2211 South Josephine Street
Denver, CO 80208
telephone: 303-871-2097
Director: Kathy I. Kennedy, DrPH, kkennedy@du.edu
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) shall have a royalty-free, nonexclusive and irrevocable right to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use, and authorize others to use the work, for purposes which further the objectives of the CDPHE.
Workbook Contents: Page Number Page Number
Overview, 10 min. 2
1. Introduction, 10 min. 3
2. Networking, 20 min. 7
3. Directories , 20 min. 11
4. Special Purpose Search Engines, 20 m. 14
5. Destination Sites, 20 min. 16
6. MetaSearch Engines, 30 min. 18
7. General Search Engines, 30 min. 21
8. Evaluating Web Sites, 30 min. 26
9. Training Tips and Evaluation, 30 min 30
Searching for relevant and reliable public health and environment information on the World Wide Web often seems like an exercise in futility when a simple search retrieves millions of results. After a session of scanning expired links to not-so-relevant information, you've probably wondered if there was some way to improve your success rate. This workbook provides some strategies that you can use to improve your success in retrieving information from the World Wide Web.
Audience:
This course was designed for Public Health and Environment Professionals in the state of Colorado. Other individuals may benefit from the course content, but the course may not meet their specific needs. The materials in this workbook are intended for use by the Public Health and Environment Professional who is an intermediate level World Wide Web user.
Purpose of the course:
The purpose of this course is to enable Public Health and Environment practitioners to use the Internet well to accomplish their work.
Technical note:
This course was designed for use with a PC. Internet Explorer is the preferred browser for viewing these course pages.
Goals of the course:
A. To learn general Internet skills, including:
o organizing bookmarks or favorites for quick reference
o troubleshooting web addresses
B. To learn strategies for effectively locating information and resources on the World Wide Web of value to the Public Health and Environment Professional, including:
o distance learning opportunities for public health professionals,
o public health data & programmatic technical assistance,
o program/service delivery ideas,
o full text and abstract only online journals.
C. To learn whether a World Wide Web site is reputable or accurate.
Responsibilities of participants:
A. To come into this class with some experience using general computer applications and web browsers such as Netscape or Internet Explorer
B. To have some experience interacting with the Internet and World Wide Web
C. To actively engage in learning by maintaining a positive frame of mind and looking for opportunities to increase your knowledge
D. To ask questions and seek assistance from the trainers when you need help
E. To share your successes, ideas, and knowledge so that all can benefit
F. To provide constructive feedback and evaluation of the course to the trainers to use in improving the design and presentation of the course
Responsibilities of trainers:
A. To teach effectively in order to help participants achieve the goals of the course
B. To provide an atmosphere that is conducive to learning
C. To adapt as much as possible to the range of skills and experiences presented by the participants
D. To offer constructive feedback to participants to help them improve their skills
E. To facilitate lifelong learning among the course participants
F. To be available following the class presentations for assistance with course content
1. INTRODUCTION
Two general Internet skills that improve access to information on the Web are:
A. organizing favorites for quick reference
B. troubleshooting web addresses
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A. Organizing Favorites For Quick Reference
You will visit many Web sites while using this workbook. You may want to return to some of them because they are useful. Favorites in Internet Explorer are designed to help you quickly and conveniently access Web sites that you frequently use. You may already be using this feature. Active users of the World Wide Web find that the value of their favorites diminishes as the number of Web sites listed increase. But you can organize favorites so that they are more accessible, even if you have a list of hundreds of Web sites.
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Internet Explorer "Favorites"
Microsoft's Internet Explorer also offers a feature that provides quick and convenient access to frequently used Web sites. IE calls the feature "Favorites".
Why would you want to organize your favorites?: If you have more than 30 sites listed, you may want to create folders and then group similar types of Web sites together.
TIP: You can find out more about IE Favorites by clicking on "Help" in the menu bar, then "Contents and Index", then "Finding the Web Page You Want".
Using the Favorites Feature:
1. Go to the Web site you want to add to your list.
2. To add a favorite Web site to your list, click on Favorites in the menu bar, then click on "Add Favorite".
3. A new dialog box will pop up. You can add, rename, and group similar types of sites in folders using this dialog box.
• To add the Web site to your favorites list, simply click on "OK" when the dialog box appears.
• To rename the listing, delete the name that appears in the box and type in a new name, then click on "OK".
• To place the listing in a subject folder, click on "Create in", then click on the appropriate folder name. If you want to create a new subject folder in which to place the listing, click on "New Folder", then type in the name of the folder. Click "OK" when you are done adding your site to a folder.
Favorite sites can be sorted into groupings based on:
• the type of sponsor for the web site (associations, government agencies, etc.)
• the subject of the web site (immunization, substance abuse, pregnancy, tobacco, etc.
• your job responsibilities (administration, education, evaluation, planning, etc.)
If you need inspiration, look at labels on the folders in the file cabinet in your office.
To organize your Favorites, click on "Favorites" in the menu bar, then click on "Organize Favorites". A dialog box will pop up that will allow you to create folders, rename listings, delete listings, or move listings.
• Click on "Create Folder", then type the name of the new folder, click on "Close" when done
• To rename a listing, click on the listing to highlight, then click on "Rename", then type new name. Click on "Close" when done.
• To delete a listing, click on the listing to highlight, then click on "Delete", then click on "Yes". Click on "Close" when done.
• To move a listing to a folder, click on the listing to highlight, then click on "Move to Folder", click on the destination folder to highlight, then click on "OK"
Repeat these steps to organize your Favorites.
Some organizing can be done when you display your favorites in the browser window. Click on "Favorites" on the IE toolbar. Your list of favorites will appear in a sidebar on the left of your browser.
• You can click on and drag listings to new locations, or to another folder.
• Right click on a listing and click on "Delete" to delete a listing you no longer use
• Right click on a listing and click on "Rename" to give the listing a more descriptive name
• Right click on a listing and click on "Properties" to change the URL for a favorite
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EXERCISE: Go to the following 5 web sites. As you visit each one, add it to your bookmarks or favorites:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Using the instructions above, create a new folder labeled "CLASS PAGES" and move your new bookmarks or favorites into the folder.
Ask the trainers for assistance if you need help.
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B. Trouble-shooting Web Addresses
The Universal (or Uniform) Resource Locator (URL) is the address for a Web page. Understanding the parts of a URL provides the basis for trouble-shooting a URL that is incorrect. The URL includes the following pieces of information:
Protocol
http:// - The protocol tells the browser what type of file should be displayed; in this case it is a hyper-text transfer protocol format file, the most commonly used format on the World Wide Web. If you omit "http" from the address the browser will assume that the files are in http format. ftp://, file transfer protocol, and telnet:// are seen more rarely, so must be included when typing a URL into your browser.
Domain name
- The domain name is the name given to the computer that stores the APHA web site files. The last part of the domain name indicates the affiliation of the sponsor of the site:
com = commercial
edu = education
gov = government
mil = military
net = network service provider
org = organization
Non-United States domain names include a two letter country code, such as
uk = United Kingdom.
Some include affiliation codes unique to that country.
New domains have recently been approved and will start appearing in URLs:
name = personal name, intended for families, celebrities, etc.
biz = business, similar to .com
info = information, intended for information services
museum = for museums and cultural institutions
coop = for cooperative organizations
aero = for airlines and other aeronautics related industries
pro = for professionals such as doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc.
Path
journal/editorials/ - identifies the exact directory (or path) where the file is found on the site's computers. Web site documents are organized into directories in much the same way that your computer hard drive is organized into directories that contain folders and sub-folders.
File name
editcoh - identifies the exact name of the file that is on the APHA Web site.
File type
.htm - identifies the type of file to be displayed by your browser. htm or html files are created in hyper-text markup language and are the most common type of file displayed by your browser. Many different file types can be displayed by browsers.
When you type a URL that is incorrect or contains a typographical error, you will receive an error message. The most common message is "404 - File not found." You can find a list of other common error messages at:
Some of the reasons that you might receive an error message include:
• The Web page no longer exists anywhere on the Web
• The Web page no longer exists at that Web site
• The page has been moved to a different directory
• The page has been given a different file name
• The domain name for the entire Web site has changed
What should you do if you receive an error message after typing in an incorrect URL?
• If you received the address from a colleague, contact them to see if they have the correct URL
• Check your spelling and punctuation (for example, URLs use /, not \, to indicate the path)
• Use the upper and lower case exactly as given
• Include all symbols, such as the ~ (tilde)
• Watch that you use the hyphen (-) or underscore (_) correctly
• Truncate the URL back section by section, through the whole URL until you are at the main page of the Web site, if necessary
• Connect to the main page of the Web site and attempt to follow links on the page to your desired page
• Use a search engine to find a site that has changed servers or URLs without leaving a "forwarding address"
• Join a discussion list or newsgroup that tracks Web sites of interest to you
• Watch for announcements of changes in professional newsletters or at professional web sites
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EXERCISE:
The URLs below contain an error. Use the techniques suggested above to troubleshoot the URL. Ask your trainer to verify that you have found the page you were intended to find.
- Public Health jobs in Colorado
- Real-time 911 dispatches
Ask the trainers for assistance if you need help.
2. USE THE INTERNET FOR NETWORKING
This section of the course will emphasize Web based options for communicating with others who do similar work or who have interests similar to you. Five topics will be addressed:
A. What is a weblog, discussion list, newsgroup, or online forum?
B. Why should you participate in a weblog, discussion list, newsgroup, or online forum?
C. Advantages and Disadvantages of participation.
D. Where can you get more information on weblogs, discussion lists, newsgroups, or online forums?
E. What other resources support networking?
Imagine this common occurrence: You've just finished taking a phone call. The caller has asked for information and guidance on a topic with which you are unfamiliar. What is the first thing you would do to gather the information you need to help this caller?
If you're like most people, your first reaction - before using the Web or looking in a book - would be to walk to the office next door and ask a colleague for information or for suggestions of where to go to get the information you need. Or you'd pick up the phone and call someone knowledgeable. But there are also Internet resources to help.
One of the resources of the Internet that has been under-utilized by public health and environment professionals is the weblog, discussion list, newsgroup, or online forum. These are all methods of exchanging information quickly among individuals who are geographically removed from one another, but are interested in the same topic.
A. What is a weblog, discussion list, newsgroup, or online forum?
• Weblogs (or 'blogs') are web pages designed to create a daily diary of commentary with responses from readers. You can set up a weblog where many members can post new messages, or where one person controls the posted content, and members can reply to posts. (Check out the free weblog resource at )
• Discussion lists are email based communication systems that allow individuals interested in a common topic to share information quickly. After subscribing to a discussion list, the user sends a message to a central email address. A computer program at that address distributes the message to all of the members of the list. Members may then reply to the central email address to share information with the whole group, or they can reply just to the individual that sent the message. All that is needed to use discussion lists is an e-mail account. (Check out some archives at )
• Newsgroups are similar, except that they require you to have access to a news host, which archives the messages that make up the newsgroups, and to a newsreading program. Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer offer a newsreading capability. Netscape has a built-in news reader. Newsgroup names look like: alt.health.smoking.advocacy. (Check out Google Groups - - to learn about newsgroups before you join. Try the discussion at misc.emerg-services or alt.security.terrorism)
• Online forums allow the exchange of information to occur on a Web page. After joining the forum you may reply to a posted message using a form that is provided at the Web site. You may read discussions at the forum on a Web page designed to display all incoming messages. (See or for examples of this type of forum.)
B. Why should you participate in a discussion list, newsgroup, or online forum? Several excellent reasons for joining are:
• You are the only person assigned a certain work responsibility in your office, agency, or region so you need to be in contact with colleagues who can help when you have questions
• You need confirmation that your decisions or actions are the best practice
• You plan programs and don't want to "reinvent the wheel"
• You would like access to a group of people who can give nearly immediate feedback to your ideas
• You are expected to be the "expert" on a certain topic and would like access to other professionals with that expertise to share information
• You would like to broaden your network of contacts in a professional or personal interest area
• You need support or encouragement for what you do from others who do the same job, or have the same problems
• You often need information when your office colleagues with expertise in a subject are unavailable
• You find it stimulating to exchange ideas and get information from colleagues and want another outlet for doing so
• You need to stay up-to-date on current professional issues, legislative changes, continuing education opportunities, workshop and conference dates, professional society news, great web resources, or position announcements in your field
• You regularly interact with others by using an email distribution list and you would like to convert that to a discussion list format
•
C. Advantages and Disadvantages of participation.
Advantages:
o Exchange ideas
o Quick response
o Diversity of opinion, advice, information
o You can read or delete as you wish
o You can join when you want and quit when you want and no one will want to know why
o You can observe without participating
o You can participate only when you want to
o Creation of a professional network that is world-wide in scope
Disadvantages:
o Communication is not confidential
o Volume of postings can be overwhelming with some lists
o Postings to list are sometimes not on-topic
o Time is needed to participate
o Some technical skill is required to subscribe, reply, and unsubscribe
D. Where can you get more information on weblogs, discussion lists, newsgroups, or online forums?
• Yahoo maintains a directory of weblogs at
• Discussion Groups is an online handout that provides guidance on why to join a discussion list, how to locate a discussion list of interest, and how to join and participate in a discussion list.
• Both Netscape and Internet Explorer include newsreaders that allow you to subscribe and read newgroup postings. For help with the newsreaders click on the browser's "Help" in the menu bar.
• Check your professional group or association to see if they have an online forum. APHA has a members only section that contains online discussion lists. Check with CDPHE to see if they sponsor any lists.
• Google Groups is a search engine just for archived discussion list and newsgroup postings. You can " eavesdrop" on a list or newsgroup to determine if joining the discussions would be helpful.
• Topica provides information on popular, professional, and scholarly lists.
• Yahoo! Groups Describes and hosts existing discussion groups, and allows individuals to create new discussion groups.
E. What other resources support networking?
• Web sites for the APHA, CDC, or CDPHE offer contact information to connect with experts:
o APHA - Locate phone and email contacts for all sections and services. If you are a member you may use the online member directory.
o CDC - Find a center, institute, or office, or look for staff phone & fax numbers
o CDPHE Divisions - Select a division or look for staff phone & fax numbers
• Faculty and staff directories of large universities are also often online. Use the American Universities directory to locate a college or university web page, then look for an online employee directory -
• Online phone directories can help with individual and business networking: Dex Online covers most of Colorado - ? Yahoo People Search covers all of the US - - and if you don't find the person on Yahoo, then they link you to US Search, a fee based locator service - Here's a list of links to many different types of directories for locating people -
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EXERCISE:
List one reason why joining a discussion list, newsgroup, or forum might benefit you:
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What two topics would you like to discuss in a discussion list, newsgroup, or forum?
1.
2.
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Using the resources listed above, search for a discussion list, newsgroup, or forum that might interest you. List the addresses for the list, group, or forum that you find:
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Use one of the additional networking resources (web site contact information pages or people/business locator resources) to try to find an office, agency, person or business.
Ask the trainers for assistance if you need help.
3. USE CATALOGS OR DIRECTORIES OF WEB SITES ON YOUR TOPIC.
Catalogs or directories were one of the earliest ways to access the Web. Yahoo! () is a famous example. Many other companies or organizations now provide catalogs or directories to web sites. A less famous but award winning example of a general subject catalog or directory site is The Librarian's Index to the Internet ( ), a resource sponsored by the State of California.
Five topics will be discussed in this section:
A. What is a Catalog or Directory?
B. Why should you use a Catalog or Directory?
C. Advantages and Disadvantages of using Catalogs or Directories.
D. What Catalogs or Directories can I use?
E. Where to get more information on Catalogs or Directories.
A. What is a Catalog or Directory?
A directory is an organized list of Web site addresses (sometimes referred to as "links"). A catalog is similar to a directory, except that it may describe or evaluate each site. Usually, these lists of sites are developed by an individual, organization, group of people, or institutions. You can browse or search most catalogs or directories.
B. Why should you use a Catalog or Directory?
If you went to the grocery store for a can of beans and didn't know which aisle they were on, would you wander aimlessly and hope you could find the aisle? Or would you look at the store directory sign and go directly to the correct aisle? Catalogs and directories on the web lead you to the best places to find information on a topic. They're a good substitute for more time consuming searches or surfing.
• Convenience - potentially hundreds of sources are collected in one place, allowing quick access to important resources
• Organized Access - someone has taken the time to review and sort the list into a logical order of categories or subcategories
• Peer Review - many specialized and some general subject catalogs and directories have strict standards for the material that can be included, ensuring a consistent level of quality in the resources listed.
C. Advantages and Disadvantages of using Catalogs or Directories.
Advantages:
o Access to major sites in a field from one URL
o Browse or search - most catalogs or directories offer both options
o Quality assurance - links and descriptions kept up to date automatically
o Consistency of layout - designers often use the same sub-categories for all major topics, making it easier to navigate.
o Almost as good as your own bookmarks or favorites, once you learn your way around
Disadvantages:
o Organized by general topics, not specifics (i.e. Infectious Disease NOT Anthrax)
o The size of some catalogs or directories can make them confusing
o Learning the system of organization can take time, or you may dislike the system
o The catalog or directory doesn't include links you'd like to visit, or doesn't include your topic.
D. What catalogs or directories can I use?
Some consumer health information catalogs or directories are:
• National Library of Medicine, MEDLINEplus - . The agency that organizes access to medical journals through its MEDLINE index also has a resource for health information consumers. In addition to peer reviewed resources on health topics, MEDLINEplus also includes a drug information resource, dictionaries, and directories. Animated, audio voice over tutorials are great for low literacy clients.
• U.S. Government Healthfinder - . A one stop index to resources for health information consumers prepared by Health and Human Services agencies.
• NOAH Environmental Health - environment/environ.html. Provides links to environmental health information for the general public on the most common environmental health concerns.
Some professional catalogs or directories are:
• APHA Public Health Links . Useful links, organized by interests of the profession.
• CIC Healthweb - Alphabetical List of All Subjects . Resource lists for health specialties organized and maintained by medical libraries in the midwest.
• Invisible Web Directory - . Specializes in sites that are "informative, of high quality, and contain worthy information from reliable information providers that are not visible to general-purpose search engines."
• Martindale's Health Science Guide Has an excellent public health resource list and includes other subjects of interest. Good source of meeting and continuing education information.
• OMNI . A UK-based catalog that allows three methods of access: browsing by subject, searching, and by medical library classification. Useful for a non-US perspective on public health and environment issues (although major US web sites are listed too).
E. Where to get more information on Catalogs or Directories.
• Hardin Meta Directory of Internet Health Sources - . Is a directory of directories. You can go to the Hardin Meta Directory and locate many different directories that organize links to a specific medical specialty or health topic.
• Whenever you use a directory, look for an "About" link. This is where most catalog or directory services describe their purpose, personnel, organizing system, or editorial/ policy. Look for answers to the following questions:
o Who chooses the links included in the site?
o Who maintains the site?
o What is the criteria for including links?
o Why was the site created?
o When are the links updated?
o How is the site organized? (subject, dictionary, classified)
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EXERCISE:
Part 1: Complete one:
• Search or browse the catalogs or directories to locate web-based training in public health topics that would be suitable for a public health professional or for a health information consumer.
• Search or browse the catalogs or directories to locate full-text journal or newsletter resources of value in public health.
• Search or browse the catalogs or directories to locate demographic data, especially a resource that includes county level data.
Part 2: Browse a catalog or directory listed above and pick out one link to a resource that you want to remember so you can use it later.
The link is to:___________________________ (Fill in title of resource)
The source of this information is:___________________________ (Fill in the agency, group, or company)
The URL is: ___________________________
I found it in:___________________________ (Fill in name of catalog or directory)
I followed this path to get to the link: (Write down each link that you clicked on to get to the link to the resource)
_______________/_______________/_______________/_______________
An example would be:
The link is to: Economics of tobacco control
The source of this information is: Worldbank
The URL is:
I found it in: Invisible Web Directory
I followed this path to get to the link: Health & Medical/Diseases & Conditions/Econ. of tobacco control
Ask the trainers for assistance if you need help.
4. Use a Special Purpose Search Engine
The best known aids for finding World Wide Web sites are "search engines". When search engines allow you to search a special subset of the web, they are called "special purpose search engines".
This section will discuss:
A. What is a Special Purpose Search Engine?
B. Why should you use a Special Purpose Search Engine?
C. Advantages and Disadvantages of using Special Purpose Search Engines.
D. What Special Purpose Search Engines can I use?
E. Where to get more information about Special Purpose Search Engines.
A. What is a Special Purpose Search Engine?
Special purpose search engines index web sites related to a certain topic or with a specific audience in mind.
B. Why should you use a Special Purpose Search Engine?
You will save time by focusing your search on resources most likely to be of interest to you.
C. Advantages and Disadvantages of using Special Purpose Search Engines.
Advantages
o Results to your queries are fewer in number and are usually more relevant to your topic
o Some special purpose search engines are very selective, resulting in increased reliability and accuracy of resources
Disadvantages
o There isn't a special purpose search engine available for your topic
o The special purpose search engine doesn't "re-index" the sites it searches often enough, resulting in links that return a "Not Found" error message
D. What Special Purpose Search Engines can I use?
• Fed Stats - . Searches government agency web sites for statistics. Choose the "Search across agency websites."
• - . Provides a single search engine for all Web pages in the .gov domain. Excellent for topics which might be addressed by different government units.
• Google Groups - . Use this newsgroup resource as a search engine to find information, or to identify trends in health issues.
• HardinMD Free Medical Journals - . Links to free medical journals on the World Wide Web. Includes search filter to search only the free journals available in PubMed. Also includes a search filter to search for free journal articles on selected diseases.
• Healthy People 2010 PubMed Search Filters - . The National Library of Medicine and the Public Health Foundation staff have worked together to develop pre-formulated evidence-based search strategies for selected Healthy People 2010 focus areas. Click on a focus area, then click on the RED button to run the search in PubMed.
• Mednets - . Includes consumer and health professional special purpose search engines. Selectively indexes consumer health Web resources based on accuracy and value of information. Search engine for health professionals retrieves peer-reviewed information.
• Scirus - . (Fees charged for some resources.) This search engine can search scientific web sites, electronic journals from major publishers, and other science related databases. Scirus concentrates on peer reviewed materials for the serious scholar.
• C| - . A special search engine and resource for computer equipment, consumer and office electronics. Retrieves reviews, bulletin board postings, software to download, and comparison retail price information from C|net's
• TUCOWS - . Searches for software reviews and applications that can be downloaded. Includes commercially available, shareware, and freeware types of software. Note to Participants: The computer equipment and software search engines are included in this workbook because they are useful to almost anyone who uses a computer, especially in a smaller workplace where you might not have full time information technology support staff.
E. Where to get more information about Special Purpose Search Engines.
• Search Engine Watch - . Lists many other special purpose search engines and provides short descriptions of their function.
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EXERCISE:
Complete one:
• Search Google Groups to find out what newsgroup participants are saying about saw palmetto and prostate
• Search Google Groups to find out what newsgroup participants are saying about whether wearing helmets is reducing head injuries in children
• Search for materials you could use to create a poster on laundering pesticide contaminated clothes. Can you find the information in Spanish so that you could create English and Spanish language posters?
• Search Mednets or Scirus for information on any of the following:
o suicide prevention
o prostate cancer screening
o benefits of helmet use
• If you use a PDA (handheld organizer such as a Palm, Visor, or Pocket PC) search TUCOWS or C|net for alarm clock software for your device. Note how you found the listings so you can find it at your own computer, download it, and move it to your device.
Ask the trainers for assistance if you need help.
5. USE A DESTINATION WEB SITE
Some Web sites are so large or important that they are a logical choice to visit when you need information.
This section will discuss:
A. What is a Destination Web site?
B. Why should you use a Destination Web site?
C. Advantages and Disadvantages of using Destination Web sites.
D. How to use Destination Web sites.
E. What Destination Web sites are relevant to Public Health?
A. What is a Destination Web site?
Destination Web sites are large Web sites devoted to a specific topic, cause, organization, or interest group. When you find a Destination Web site on your topic, the probability is greater that it will contain the type of information you need.
B. Why should you use a Destination Web site?
Search engines often miss pages buried deep within a Web site or that present information retrieved from databases. Your retrieval of information is improved by using the search engine provided by a large site focused on a specific topic.
C. Advantages and Disadvantages of using Destination Web sites.
Advantages
o Up-to-date information
o Peer-reviewed, accurate material (since the site sponsor's reputation is at stake)
o Focused on your information needs
Disadvantages
o Site lacks search engine
o Site is not comprehensive or scholarly enough to meet your needs
D. How do I use Destination Web sites?
• Use a directory to identify major Web sites related to your professional or subject interest
OR
Type your major keyword into the Google search engine -
• Look on the Destination Web site for a search engine for that site. It will most likely be in a horizontal navigation bar at the top of page or along the left hand side of the page
• Search for your topic within the Web site and review your results
• If a site doesn't include a search engine, you have two choices:
o Look for a "site map" - a diagram or outline that lists all of the pages and subpages within a site
o Use a general search engine, but limit the search to within your Destination Web site -- For example, Go to Google - . Type in your topic, then type in site: followed by the URL try this technique with the example below:
tobacco prevention site:
E. What Destination Web sites are relevant to Public Health?
• APHA - . The APHA is an important site for the Public Health field. It is a large site and accessing pages relevant to your specific need is made easier by using the search engine they provide. Members have access to more materials than non-members.
• American Factfinder (U.S. Census) - . This web based application allows you to locate census data for your county. Some 2000 data may not yet be available for your county, since census results are still being processed. This is a good example of a site that presents data that cannot be searched by a General Search Engine like Google.
• CDC: Centers for Disease Control - . Another large, important site for public health professionals that offers its own search engine to improve retrieval of relevant documents.
• Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment - . Use the site search engine to locate the information you need.
• U.S. Health & Human Services - . Use the Web site search engine to locate documents made available on the HHS Web site. Don't forget that - - searches the HHS site and other government Web sites all at once.
• Directory of Public Health World Wide Web Resources - Linda Buzard, RN,BSN,MPH, has prepared a directory of destination sites that are useful for Public Health and Environment Professionals.
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EXERCISE:
Visit a site on the Public Health Destinations web page. Use the site search engine to locate materials on a topic of interest to you. If the site doesn't have it's own search engine, use Google to search the site (instructions in section D above).
Suggested topics:
• Is online training available on Anthrax or Smallpox?
• Is there a toolbox that can help you develop group facilitation skills?
• How many hantavirus cases have occurred in Colorado?
• Is the use of tobacco increasing or declining in the adolescent population in the US?
• How many Hispanics over the age of 18 live in your city?
• What is the current immunization schedule in Colorado? What are children required to have before they enter public school?
• Is there a statewide smoking cessation assistance program that I can refer my clients to?
• Does the state have a health improvement plan?
Did you find an answer? If not, ask the trainers for assistance.
6. USE A "METASEARCH" ENGINE TO BEGIN YOUR SEARCH
Metasearch Engines are an efficient and effective tool, and are often preferred to General Search Engines when seeking information.
This section will discuss:
A. What is a Metasearch Engine?
B. Why should you use a Metasearch Engine?
C. Advantages and Disadvantages of using Metasearch Engines
D. How to use Metasearch Engines.
E. What Metasearch Engines are available?
A. What is a Metasearch Engine?
"Meta" means comprehensive. A Metasearch Engine is a Web tool that allows the user to search many General Search Engine indexes by submitting one search strategy.
B. Why should you use a Metasearch Engine?
Metasearch Engines work efficiently to search many other General Search Engines, then present the most relevant search results in a compiled list. This saves time in searching and reviewing results.
C. Advantages and Disadvantages of using Metasearch Engines
Advantages
o Metasearch Engines search many General Search Engine indexes at once, a process that would take an individual much more time to perform individually
o Metasearch Engines retrieve the top results from many General Search Engines, allowing the user to review only the most relevant results. The relevancy of listings after the first 10-20 results is usually poor. Relevancy sorting is based on rules that are owned by the search engine company, but generally results are sorted to the top of the list because the words you searched:
▪ are in the title of the page
▪ are in the header of the page
▪ are in the first 250 words on the page
▪ appear on the page in the order that you typed them
▪ appear close together on the page
▪ appear frequently on a page
o Metasearch Engines often use special processes to eliminate duplicate results
o By reviewing the results presented by the Metasearch Engine, users can identify the General Search Engines that handle their search topics most effectively and efficiently.
Disadvantages
o Search topics must be kept simple, so the detailed search strategies allowed by most General Search Engines is lost
o Metasearch Engines usually can't retrieve the following:
email or other addresses, patents, dictionary definitions, air fares, real estate listings, statistics, periodical articles, product information in catalogs, legal information, job listings, and genealogies, PDF forms, information gathered by using interactive tools, information within sites requiring registration, real time information, and image, sound, and video files. (see for more information)
o There are poor or irrelevant results when the Metasearch Engine searches General Search Engines that don't index your topic
o The display of results can be confusing or complex
D. How to use Metasearch Engines.
• In most cases, 2-5 keywords or phrases should be entered into a search query box
• Don't enter: the, an, a, etc. as a keyword
• Some Metasearch Engines also allow users to limit or modify a search by using a series of drop-down menu options or checkboxes, so use these as appropriate
• Results can be displayed in different ways.
o Some Metasearch Engines display all results with the most relevant from any General Search Engine first.
o Some Metasearch Engines display the top results from each General Search Engine grouped together
E. What Metasearch Engines are available?
Some popular metasearch engines are:
• C|Net Search Enter 2-5 keywords in the search query box. C|Net Search searches 9 General Search Engines, then displays the most relevant results first. The name or names of the General Search Engine from which the result was retrieved is displayed after the URL.
• Dogpile . Enter 2-5 keywords in the search query box. Dogpile displays the top results from each of 15 General Search Engines. You can link to a specific General Search Engine, if you want to see more results for that search engine. Click the "Next" button at the bottom of the results list to search more General Search Engines.
• Mamma, The Mother of All Search Engines . Enter 2-5 keywords in the search query box. Mamma searches 6 General Search Engines, then displays the most relevant results first. The name of the General Search Engine from which the result was retrieved is listed in brackets next to the URL. If a result is from more than one General Search Engine, all sources are listed.
• Metacrawler . Enter 2-5 keywords in the search query box. Metacrawler searches numerous General Search Engines and displays the most relevant results first. The results include a relevancy rating of 0-1000, the URL, and the name of the General Search Engine from which the result was retrieved. A "More Like This" link generates new search results based on the contents of a your selected item, although results can be inconsistent.
• Turbo 10 . Build your own Metasearch Engine by clicking on the My Collections button, then Add New Collection. Select your search engines from the list, titling your collection, entering your email and clicking on Add My Collection. In the future when you visit this site on your own computer workstation, your collection of search engines will be available to metasearch.
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EXERCISE:
Go to a Metasearch Engine. Think of a topic for which you have needed information recently or use one of the suggested topics below. What keywords will you include in your search?
__________________ __________________ __________________
Type your topic in the search query box for a Metasearch Engine, then record the time you clicked on the button to start your search: Metasearch Engine used:
C|net Search [ ] Dogpile [ ] Mamma [ ] Metacrawler [ ]
Start time: ______________________________
Record the time when you find a web site that will answer your question:
End time: ______________________________
Mark here if you didn't find the information you were seeking: [ ]
Discuss your search strategy with the trainers - could you have done something differently and improved the results?
Was this strategy efficient and effective for finding the information you were seeking?
YES [ ] NO [ ]
Other comments or observations:
Suggested topics:
• Is online training available on Anthrax or Smallpox?
• Is there a toolbox that can help you develop group facilitation skills?
• How many hantavirus cases have occurred in Colorado?
• Is the use of tobacco increasing or declining in the adolescent population in the US?
• Has there been any money appropriated federally for looking at bioterrorism in public health?
• What federal laws address immunization?
Ask the trainers for assistance if you need help.
7. Use a General Search Engine as a last resort.
This section will discuss:
A. What is a General Search Engine?
B. Why should you use a General Search Engine?
C. Advantages and Disadvantages of using General Search Engine
D. How to use General Search Engines
E. Where can you get more information on General Search Engines?
F. What General Search Engines are available?
A. What is a General Search Engine?
A General Search Engine is a computer program that retrieves links to Web sites which match topics entered into a search query box. Each General Search Engine has its own way of executing a search and its own index of Web sites that can be retrieved.
Most search engines sift through an index of Web pages created by an automated "spider" or "robot" - a computer program that locates web pages, makes a copy and then stores it in the General Search Engines' index.
NO search engine performs a live search of World Wide Web. All search engines are actually searching an index that is a large subset of the whole World Wide Web.
B. Why should you use a General Search Engine?
General Search Engines are useful for finding a wide variety of Web pages from many different sources on a very specific topic.
C. Advantages and Disadvantages of using General Search Engine
Advantages
o General Search Engines provide access to a large quantity of Web pages on all subjects
o General Search Engines allow you to customize your search strategy to elicit the best results
o General Search Engines can often search specific sites, making them useful when a large site doesn't provide its own search engine
o General search engines are good for providing an initial connection to a variety of websites if you just want to search a general topic and you have no idea where to start
Disadvantages
o General Search Engines offer quantity of results, but not always high quality
o General Search Engines are usually searching pages in the index that are hours to months old. Therefore, some links retrieved will lead to dead ends
o Some search engines allow "paid positioning" - commercial sites pay to be featured as a top site in the results list
o In most cases the relevance of results drops drastically after the first 10-20 listings
o General Search Engines usually can't retrieve the following:
email or other addresses, patents, dictionary definitions, air fares, real estate listings, statistics, periodical articles, product information in catalogs, legal information, job listings, and genealogies, PDF forms, information gathered by using interactive tools, information within sites requiring registration, real time information, and image, sound, and video files. (see for more information)
D. How to use General Search Engines.
Read the help or tips, because not all search engines use the strategies listed here:
• Most search tools provide a box to enter the search topic, and a button to submit the topic for processing by the search engine
• Many search engines provide both beginner and advanced versions. Don't be intimidated because it is an advanced version. Sometimes the advanced version provides a user friendly form with pull down menu options that help the user prepare the best search strategy
• Choose unusual words to describe a topic; don't use generic terms except as part of a phrase
• Be as precise as possible
• Think about synonyms
• Use truncation or wildcards or stemming, if available
o Truncation uses a symbol like * at the end of a word that can have multiple endings, for example nurs* might retrieve nurse, nurses, nursing or nursery
o wildcards take the place of a letter within a word or a letter at the end of a word, for example wom*n would retrieve woman, women, womyn, or womin
o stemming is a feature of some search engines that find alternate words with the same root spelling, for example, catholic would retrieve catholics or catholicism (depending upon the word list used by the search engine)
• Use the singular form of a word rather than the plural form
• Watch your spelling, and enter multiple spellings where appropriate
• The default for most search engines is to find any or all of your search terms
• Use Boolean operators, if allowed -
o AND to narrow your search
o OR to widen your search
o NOT to eliminate unwanted words (some search engines use AND NOT or BUT NOT)
• Use proximity operators, usually NEAR, if allowed
• When permitted, limit to a range of dates
• Use more than one search engine - they each differ in coverage and searching capabilities
• Be persistent and creative; ingenuity pays off
E. Where can you get more information on General Search Engines?
• Read the instructions and look for links to further assistance in the General Search Engine that you choose to search - Look for links that say "Help" or "Tips"
• Search Engine Watch - is a web site providing information and links related to search engines and searching
• Search Tools and Subject Directories by Peggy Jobe - is a useful compilation of resources on searching the Web
F. What General Search Engines are available?
To select the best search engine for your needs, consider:
• Where does it search?
It's important to know what Web pages your search engine will search, since that limits the possibilities for retrieval. The special purpose search engine, Google Groups, searches only the postings from Usenet newsgroups going back to 1981 (Google Groups - )
• How does the relevancy ranking work?
Most search engines sort the results to your search query based on rules. Many search engines don't publish these rules, but if they do it is helpful to review them. When you search Google, the top Web sites in the results list indicate that the Web site is more highly valued in the web community. When one important Web site lists another site in its resource list, then Google counts the link as a "vote". This information is used to sort your results. (Google - )
• What special search strategies does it use?
Each search engine provides search features unique to that search engine. Read the "help" or "tips" information to learn the best search strategies for the search engine.
• How easy is the search form to use?
How useful are the options the search form provides? Sometimes search engines use drop-down menus or multiple choice buttons to help you focus your search strategy. Review the help information to make sure you understand how these options affect your search results.
Hotbot and Hotbot "Advanced" allow sophisticated searches through the use of multiple search menu options, based on search strategies that Web searchers commonly use (HotBot - Click on the Advanced Search link, too)
• Can you use natural language in your search statement?
Ask Jeeves allows "natural language" searching - you can type in a question just as you would ask it in real life - no complicated search techniques are necessary.
• Processing speed
• How is the results list presented?
Each search engine has its own way of presenting the results list. Most include a URL, a title, and a "summary" consisting of the first words on the page. Some General Search Engines allow you to sort by the source or the date. This is not always helpful. For example, a result with a recent date might not be very relevant to your search strategy. Dogpile lists the top ten results for each search engine it searches. ( - )
• How does the search engine handle duplicate results?
Some search engines allow you to re-sort your results to view only the top level URL when there are multiple listings from the same URL. indicates which results were retrieved from more than one search engine. (: The Mother of All Search Engines - )
• Can you get to the search engine quickly? (Use the Netscape or Internet Explorer Search button) or specifiy your favorite search tool as your homepage, or add to bookmarks/favorites list
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EXERCISE:
Think of a topic for which you have needed information recently.
What is a hobby of yours? Enter it in the search engine and see what comes up. One person wanted to find out how to purchase beads online because she had started making her own jewelry. She used to find several great sites.
What is your question?
What keywords will you include in your search?
__________________ __________________ __________________
Which General Search Engine will you use for your search? __________________
In addition to your keywords are there other strategies that you could use to improve your search? (punctuation marks?, drop down menu choices?)
__________________ __________________ __________________
Other Suggested Topics:
• Is there a toolbox that can help you develop group facilitation skills?
• Are programs that teach drug or alcohol refusal skills effective?
• How many hantavirus cases have occurred in Colorado?
• Is the use of tobacco increasing or declining in the adolescent population in the US?
• Has there been any money appropriated federally for looking at bioterrorism in public health?
• What federal laws address immunization?
• A Board of Education member has asked you to provide your expert opinion on whether the DARE program is effective in reducing drug use among students.
• Is smallpox being weaponized?
• Have there been any Lyme disease outbreaks in Colorado since 2000?
• What are the standards for testing radon?
• What teen pregnancy prevention programs are effective?
Ask the trainers for assistance if you need help.
8. Evaluating Health and Environment Information on the Internet
This section will discuss:
A. Why is evaluation necessary?
B. How can you avoid misleading information?
o Safe starting points
o Ratings or Reviews
C. Evaluating a Web page.
o Questions to ask when evaluating information from the World Wide Web
o Additional guides to evaluating information from the World Wide Web
D. Discussing the contents of Web pages with members of the public.
A. Why is evaluation necessary?
There is no government agency or other authority that screens and controls the information posted to the World Wide Web. The Web encourages the open exchange of ideas, which is why access to the Web has been banned in some countries. However, this means that users must evaluate the information they find on the Web because the quality of information is so variable. Luckily, the web can be "self-correcting" - because of the convenience of the Web it is just as easy to find correct information, as it is to find incorrect information! If users compare the evidence from a number of Web sites, then they can make informed decisions.
• The APHA has recognized the importance of this issue in its policy # 200031: Criteria for Assessing the Quality of Health Information on the Internet
• The Federal Trade Commission web site offers numerous articles to help consumers avoid costly or dangerous health claims.
o Health Claims on the Internet: Buyer Beware -
o "Operation Cure.All" -
o 'Miracle' Health Claims: Add a Dose of Skepticism -
• A few Web sites track misleading information:
o Snopes Urban Legend Reference Pages -
o Urban Legends Archive
o QuackWatch -
o National Council on Health Fraud -
o
B. How can you avoid misleading information?
• Safe starting points
One way to avoid misleading information is to start your search for information in resources that are peer reviewed. This limits you to sites that make it a goal to include only up-to-date, high quality information. The resources below contain some public health topics, but are mostly focused on the medical aspects of public health.
Safe starting points for the public (all information included in these sites is reviewed to make certain that it is correct and up to date):
o Healthfinder -
o NLM's MEDLINEplus -
o NOAH: New York Online Access to Health -
For professionals:
o Healthweb Alphabetical List of All Subjects - A strict evaluation process ensures that only reliable, high quality sites are included in this directory.
o Medical Matrix - restricts listings to peer-reviewed sites. (Fee required)
o OMNI - . Every site included must pass a rigorous review process. Extensive information about the review process is available from the site:
• Ratings or Reviews
o Med Hunt - The Health on the Net Foundation (the proponents of a widely adopted Code of Conduct for medical web sites) provides a medical search engine and reviews of medical web sites. Sites adhering to the HoN code or visited and described by HoN are featured in separate lists from general search results.
o Medical Matrix - . Select a category, then look for star ratings next to links and descriptions. (Must be registered user to access this feature).
o Medicine on the Net - . Reviews medical Web sites, print or online versions available by subscription. Also an excellent source of information on new and important sites or tools on the Web.
C. Evaluating a Web page
Web users frequently encounter pages for which no evaluation or review exists. Professionals must rely on their understanding of psychological and rhetorical persuasion techniques, their content knowledge, comparisons to reliable sources, and the ability to draw conclusions from evidence.
To help with this task remember the acronym, DoCTor. The following aspects of Web pages should be considered when evaluating a Web page.
• Design - the aesthetics and ease of movement around the site.
• Other - cost of use, is the site rated or reviewed?
• Content - the depth and quality of the information, its purpose and audience.
• Technical - the technology requirements of the site, the effectiveness of the technology used.
• ORigin - the author and sponsor of the site, their qualifications for presenting the information, the date of the information.
When evaluating pages relevant to Public Health, Content is the most important criteria to consider due to the need for accurate information in Public Health decision making. A Web page can be attractive, work well, and be sponsored by a reliable source, but still fail to be accurate.
Questions to ask when evaluating information from the World Wide Web
Design
• Does the page use color, graphics, backgrounds, or type styles which are attractive?
• Does the page use color, graphics, backgrounds, or type styles which enhance (rather than detract from) the page?
• Is the layout of the page appealing?
• Is the page layout organized and logical?
• Is the site easy to use?
• Is the page free of typographical or spelling errors?
Other
• Is there a cost for the site?
• Is the site rated by a reliable resource?
• Is the site reviewed by a reliable resource?
Content
• What is the purpose of this page? (business, entertainment, education, research)
• Who is the intended audience? (information for the public, researchers, etc.)
• What is the scope of the page? (selective, comprehensive)
• If scientific studies are mentioned, were the studies randomized controlled trials, or some less reliable method of study? (Use PubMed to find information on the study - )
• Is the information valuable or unique?
• Can the information be verified by another source? (printed, newsgroup communication from Google Groups, or another web page)
• Are the links provided valuable?
• If medical information or advice is given
o Is a disclaimer statement evident?
o Are side effects, complications, or drug interactions discussed?
o Are outcomes or other claims based on scientific evidence or anecdotal testimonials?
o Does it conform to the recommendations of the best medical evidence? (As is published by the Cochrane Collaboration - ?
Technical
• Does the page state what technology or plug-ins are needed?
• Are links to sites that provide the plug-ins provided?
• Does the page require technology that is not readily available?
• Does the page require technology that cannot be used on your computer?
• Does the page warn the user of long file transfer times?
• Does the page integrate multimedia appropriately?
• Does the page engage and hold the viewer's attention through use of interactive technology?
• Is the page reliable?
• Do the links work?
• Is communication with the site secure?
ORigin
This information is often contained at the header and footer of the page. In Internet Explorer you can also click the right button on your mouse, then click on "Properties". The properties box may contain additional information about the origin of a page.
o Who is the author of the page?
o What are the author's credentials or qualifications for writing on the subject of the page?
o Are the biases of the author clear?
o Can the author be contacted via a mail to: link?
o Who is sponsoring the page?
o Can any information be gathered by examining the domain name? (sponsor, 3 letter type)
o Is the information timeless? or is the page regularly updated?
• Additional guides to evaluating information from the World Wide Web
o The Internet Detective - - is an interactive tutorial designed to educate web users about evaluation issues
o The IQ Tool - - is an interactive form designed to help health information consumers evaluate the quality of web a site. After viewing a web site and answering the IQ Tool questions, users receive a report that states whether the site "Passed" or "DID NOT PASS" and the reasons why, for each answer given.
o Widener University Library Checklists - use these guides to evaluate specific types of web pages:
▪ Advocacy Web Pages -
▪ Business Web Pages -
▪ Informational Web Pages -
▪ News Web Pages -
▪ Personal Home Pages -
D. Discussing the contents of Web pages with members of the public
• Acknowledge the interest and effort he/she has shown in researching the topic on the Web
• Thank him/her for discussing their concern with you
• Ask him/her what questions the information has raised and what specific concerns they have - take notes
• If you have been presented with information that you have never seen before, ask if you can make an appointment to discuss the materials after you have read and thought about them
• Read the materials and view their contents on the Web. Determine whether the materials are part of a larger group of pages.
• Use the DoCTor acronym and questions above to evaluate the contents of the page
• Read reviews of sites, if available, to determine the value and accuracy of information.
• When you discuss the content, present as balanced a view as possible based upon the evidence
• Stay calm and don't be provoked into an emotional argument. Your evidence and professional knowledge is your best persuasive tool.
• Use the opportunity to educate:
o Suggest Web sites that are safe starting points
o Encourage comparison of information to reliable sources
o Warn him/her to be cautious - remind him/her that the Web has no "quality control"
o Ask him/her to consult a health professional before following medical advice given on the Web
• If he/she doesn't trust your advice, offer to make an appointment with someone who's expertise they might trust
• Suggest using the IQ Tool () to evaluate the Web page
• Remember that each individual must make their own decisions. We cannot "rescue" others from decisions we think are ill-advised.
•
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EXERCISE:
CASE:
A parent has contacted your office to ask for information on obtaining an exemption from vaccinations/immunizations for their child. While discussing their concerns about vaccinations, the parent refers you to an organization's Web site, Citizens for Healthcare Freedom at .
Go to the Web site and evaluate the content of the site.
Search using one of the techniques taught in this class and find information that will help you present reasons why vaccinations/immunizations are required.
Pair with another student. One of you will be the parent, the other will be the Public Health professional. Role play a discussion on this topic.
Use the IQ Tool to evaluate the Web site. Does it pass?
Ask the trainers for assistance if you need help.
Training of Trainers: Get PHIT!
Lynne M. Fox, AMLS, MA, AHIP, Education Librarian
Denison Memorial Library, UC, D&HSC
303-315-4299, Lynne.Fox@uchsc.edu
Revised July 23, 2004
Anyone with intermediate to advanced Internet skills and an interest in teaching is welcome to use this class for their own training needs. Just ask permission from Dr. Kathy Kennedy (kkennedy@du.edu) and share feedback after the class if you have suggestions for improving or changing the content.
BEFORE CLASS
Lab set up – who will call and check on:
– PCs or Macs? Netscape or IE?
– Instructor workstation? Data projector or display instructor view on all student monitors?
– Power point available on instructor workstation?
– CD drive available on instructor workstation? (I recommend creating a back up of demonstrations for your session on a CD with a CD write drive, if available)
– # of workstations (will participants have to “double up”?)
– Favorites disabled on student workstations? On instructor workstation?
– History list disabled or usable?
– Login passwords needed?
– Lab support staff available during class?
– Food or drink allowed in lab?
– Catering arranged or drinks/snacks available for participants?
Preparation for class
– What modules will you be teaching? All, a few or just one? The class is designed to be used in sections. If you have one hour start with one or two of the shorter modules. Sections take from 20 minutes to 40 minutes to teach.
– Check to be sure that still leads to a dead end so you can use it in the exercise for part 1. (And should still have a “Career Opportunites” page) Another URL is to the Seattle 911 Dispatch Real Time reporting
– Ask the Regional Leadership Institute to update any “broken” links. You can run the XENU URL checker () to find class sites that have changed URLs or have disappeared - the course is designed to use the most stable web sites, but even large sites overhaul or reorganize their pages periodically. Send changes to Kathy Kennedy.
– Re-acquaint yourself with the design of the course and major points you’ll want to emphasize in the class.
– Check pages for your examples – is the site you want to demo still offering the information you were going to use as examples?
– What sort of handout will you distribute? The Word workbook? A printout of the Web page? A shorter handout for taking notes with the URL for the page on it? Any supplementary materials? Arrange for printing at least a week in advance.
DURING CLASS
First: Remember you don't have to know everything - if you're unsure of an answer, you have options:
– ask the class if anyone has an answer - you'll almost always have an advanced internet user in the class who knows
– ask the "lab guy" at the facility you're at, if it's a tech type question, they will often know
– you can always write down a name and email address and question, send it to me and I can get back to the person
Second: Adult educators say that the first 15-30 minutes of class time is the most valuable in creating rapport and getting students off to a good start. Arrive early and greet your participants as they arrive.
Introduce yourself and ask participants to introduce themselves. If this isn’t practical because class is too large, substitute ‘tent’ style name cards for nametags if you don’t have time for introductions. But generally, giving each participant a chance to speak and interact with you at the beginning of the class is a good way to set the expectation that you expect everyone to share and participate.
Start by discussing the goals of the class, and the responsibilities of the instructor and students. After reviewing the content of the class, ask participants to identify the sections in which they are most interested. Plan to emphasize those sections during the class. Explain to the group that this class is designed to offer something for everyone, from beginner to intermediate web users. Beginner concepts are presented in the beginning, intermediate concepts in the 2nd part of the class. Plan to meet the needs of different level students at different points in the class.
If you have concerns about the skill levels of participants, do an “on the fly” assessment. (One technique is to ask participants about their skill level as they come in and group beginners in the same area of the classroom, near you so you can give more assistance.)
To sort into beginner, intermediate, and intermediate to advanced groups, ask:
Beginner: How many just use email, but don’t use the web as an information source?
Intermediate: How many use email and use the web several times each week and have a favorite starting point (like Yahoo or a search engine)?
Intermediate to Advanced: How many use email, belong to a discussion list, and use a variety of favorite websites nearly every day, PLUS, find themselves showing others one to one how to use the resources of the web?
Watch for the “quiet ones” – observe participants during hands on and ask them to share what they’ve learned. They have a lot to contribute, but often don’t because they are reserved.
Discuss navigation of the web page at the beginning of the class.
Note that:
– there is a table of contents that allows them to jump to any section.
– there are “Top of Page” links to help jump back to the table of contents
– encourage students to ask for help “catching up” at any point.
Third: The content itself is very wide ranging and far more than can be presented in 4 hours. Here are some suggestions, but you may not have time to include everything in a 4 hour session. Stimulate their interest with one example, then encourage them to practice further and explore more sites back at their workplace:
Introduction:
To kick off the favorites section, you might try asking a few simple questions:
– Who keeps a list of favorite web sites?
– Who has more than 30 favorites in their list?
– Who groups their favorites by subjects using folders?
This set of questions will help you determine how much detail/handholding will be needed right at the beginning of this section. If everyone uses favorites and has organized their list, skip ahead.
Regarding troubleshooting a URL, the most important point to convey is
– when they receive an error message, they can back-track through the address.
– Then draw their attention to the list of strategies in the "What should you do if you receive an error message after typing in an incorrect URL?"
– Here are the URLs for the exercise :
- Public Health jobs in Colorado
- Real-time Seattle 911 dispatches
Networking
In the networking section, the one point to emphasize is that lists widen their network of contacts and experts to draw from when they have a challenge and need ideas. This is a valuable and often overlooked communication function of the web/email. Weblog and Yahoo Groups is probably most accessible for those who want to try communicating via the internet.
Catalogs and Directories
The catalogs and directories section can be truncated if it seems like the group isn't as interested in that. If your class participants don't do much education with the general public, the consumer health information example could be skipped. If you do pick one consumer health directory, choose Medlineplus - it's the biggest and broadest in the list. Immunization or just about any common infectious disease would be good examples.
For the professional catalogs, two examples are plenty - Invisible Web and Martindale's.
– Invisible Web is a good example because you can point out that some types of web based information cannot be found through general search engines and the IW catalog takes you right to the resource.
– Martindale’s has all the cool continuing education and other links, and it seems to be the one that our past students have really liked (even though I dislike its arrangement. For me this is a good point to emphasize that a directory – or any web site – may have an arrangement that you find difficult to navigate, but the content may make it worthwhile to overcome your dislike!)
– You can show the Hardin Meta-Directory fairly quickly – it’s valuable as a directory of directories and will allow participants to explore other catalog choices and pick the one that works best for them! (Rather than being stuck with the selection provided in the class.) Try clicking on “B”, then Bioterrorism
The most important points to emphasize in the catalogs and directories section are:
– catalogs and directories are a convenience because they gather lots of valuable links in one place, eliminating the need for lots of favorites or searching
– catalogs and directories are usually indexed at the general level, rather than the specific level of search engines, so you can find “Infectious Disease” but probably not “anthrax”
Special Purpose Search Engines:
The important points in the Special Purpose Search Engines section are:
– special purpose search engines help focus searching by conducting the search in a small and specific part of the web relevant to your topic
– special purpose search engines can offer special features or tricks that general search engines can’t provide.
Destination Web Sites:
In the Destination Web Sites section - Go right to the Library and link to a resource from there and use the search engine at the site.
Important points to cover here are simple:
– Destination web sites help focus the search process on one big resource where the information is likely to be kept
– Look for a search engine for the site. This is a good place to discuss web page layout conventions or what’s called “screen real estate” – a good design is going to have a link to the search engine for the site in a navigation bar across the top or a navigation list down the left side.
– If you can’t find a big site on your topic start by searching Google (use the topic injury prevention and go to the link for the Injury Prevention Web home page – the search engine for the site is on the left.) This is also a good time to use the illustration below. Google is efficient for locating important sites on the web because of its “Page Rank” feature. The diagram below illustrates how this works. Other search engines aren’t as efficient because they use different and less effective means for sorting the results of a search. (See section in Metasearch Engines for the other methods of sorting.)
– The Library of web sites was developed by a public health professional with other public health professionals in mind (also includes Emergency Preparedness/Bioterrorism resources).
Metasearch Engines
In the metasearch engines section be careful not to get off track – they provide their own directories, but they are not as good as the directories listed in our class so you can ignore them for the most part during the demonstration.
Ask participants to list some of the general search engines they use. Then use the diagram below to explain how metasearch engines search other general search engines.
Important points to cover here are:
– Meta means “comprehensive” – metasearch engines try to be more comprehensive by searching and presenting the results from many smaller general search engines at one time
– Metasearch engines not only are more efficient (kill two birds with one stone, so to speak) but also keep users focused on their search topic because they only present the top ten results from each search engine. This is a good place to address the concept of relevancy ranking, if it hasn’t already come up. Results of searches are sorted based on rules that are owned by the search engine company, but usually results are sorted to the top of the list because the words you searched:
o are in the title of the page (the bar at the very top of the browser window)
o are in the header of the page (the top of the web page)
o are in the first 250 words on the page
o appear on the page in the order that you typed them
o appear close together on the page
o appear frequently on a page
This is different from Google, which should have been discussed in the “Destination Page” section.
– No search engines search the web LIVE! They all have an indexed subset of web pages they search. So there’s no disadvantage to metasearching – you get the same content, but all at one time, that you’d get searching each search engine individually
– Metasearch engines provide a place where users can evaluate and compare the results from different search engines – if one search engine always provides relevant results, maybe the user should be searching that general search engine instead of the metasearch engine!
In Dogpile focus on the search engine itself. (Not the directory)
– Type a key word or phrase into the search engine – tobacco refusal skills, for example.
– Then click on “FETCH”. Look through the results list.
– Mention that Dogpile partners with a wide variety of general search engines with different purposes. Some of the search engines focus on general information pages, some focus on commercial pages and products, etc.
– You can view results by relevance or by search engine, choose View by Search Engine for the class demonstration.
– Show the class that you can look at more than 10 results if you use the link after item 10 that says: “View more [NAME OF SEARCH ENGINE] results”.
– Use the BACK button to get back to the Dogpile list of results.
– When you get to the bottom of the Dogpile results page look for the NEXT button to search the next search engines.
General Search Engines
Interest wanes by the General Search Engine section. This is pretty normal because students have a lot to absorb up until then.
Important points:
– No search engines search the web LIVE! They all have an indexed subset of web pages they search.
– General search engines are more effective when you read the help file – so pick one or two search engines and learn how to use them well.
– Use the menus of options available with the search engines – most people ignore them, but they can be very helpful
– “Paid positioning” or result “placement” has become more common as search engine companies try to increase revenue – this means that some companies have paid so that their ad will pop up in the top ten results, regardless of your search topic!
I recommend using Google (NOT GOOGLE GROUPS) as an example of a web site that does a good job of sorting results lists. Their system is based on whether other pages on the web link to a page. If 6 web pages link to Website 1, then that counts as 6 votes. If four of those pages also link to Website 2, then that counts as 4 votes. So Website 1 would be listed first and Website 2 would be listed second in the results list. People like Google because this method puts more weight on the value and usefulness of the page to real web users.
I also recommend showing Hotbot. Click on the word “Advanced” under the options in the left hand side of the page. Then show the form approach to searching. This is great for users who need some structure to help them do a better search.
Show ASK JEEVES. Ask it a real question, like “How can I teach my child to say no to cigarettes?” You might point out that Jeeves is helpful because you can ask a question, but it also offers more irrelevant results because it’s not as precise as other search engines.
Evaluating Web Sites
To start the Evaluation section and wake everyone up - have the group read part D “Discussing the contents of Web pages with members of the public” Then ask them if these guidelines seem reasonable? Would they work in a real life situation?
Important points to mention about evaluating web sites:
– There is no central authority controlling content on the web. Everyone needs to evaluate information from the web almost all of the time.
– There is no “magic pill” or one web site that will do it all for us.
– Because the web is a very “free” medium for exchange of ideas, for every inaccurate, unreliable web page, there’s a matching accurate and reliable web page to provide balance.
– “Bad” web sites almost always rely on rhetorical persuasion techniques and psychological manipulation to convince users to believe their claims. Often users who cannot evaluate the accuracy of the medical content of a web site can recognize manipulation techniques. Users who stay calm and try to be objective should notice these techniques and move on to other web sites with higher quality information to offer.
Showing Quackwatch in the Evaluation section is a good idea.
On the front page of Quackwatch
– Show the Questionable Products, Services, and Theories first and try to pick out some topics that might be public health related. There’s sections on AIDS related quackery, “calorie blockers”, low carbohydrate diets and power lines & cancer. Quackwatch is focused on medical quackery, though, so it might be harder than you think!
– There’s also a section on consumer protection, which is relevant because the health department often gets questions about what to do when someone’s been taken advantage of!
– There’s also some good advice and education materials in the Consumer Strategies sections.
In the search engine, you might try a herbal topic – I suggest ephedrine (or also ephedra)
I’ve used Quackwatch to find out about treatments for fibromyalgia, scoliosis, and arthritis that are unproven.
Also, if you have time, show the MedHunt search engine. Use immunization as your topic. The result summary at the top is the best place to start:
– The RED line are sites that adhere to the Health on the Net Code of Conduct. These sites strive to present accurate information, respect user privacy, clearly state sponsorship, and avoid bias towards advertisers. (See if you want more information.) THESE ARE THE BEST QUALITY RESULTS IN THE LIST
– The TAN (or yellow depending on monitor display) line are sites that are indexed by the Health on the Net Foundation web sites, but have not received HONCode approval. SOME OF THESE SITES WILL BE GOOD QUALITY, SOME WILL NOT
– The GREY line are sites retrieved by the MEDHUNT search engine. THE USER MUST SUPPLY THE EVALUATION OF THE QUALITY OF THESE SITES.
Click on the results link in the RED line. As you look through the results, note that each site has a flag indicating country of origin of the information. You may want to focus on US sites.
Another excellent resource is the IQ Tool (IQ stands for information quality). Practice with the tool before the class so that you can demonstrate how to answer the questions in the form, then submit the form and view the results. DOES NOT PASS appears in red letters very dramatically at the top of the page for a web site that doesn’t meet basic information quality standards. On the topic of immunization, try using the anti-immunization web site as a sample page.
Some highlights of the page:
– No clear authorship or credentials given
– The website promotes a bookstore and publishing company
– The website presents a narrow point of view, with no attempt at balance
– Bibliographies are selective to promote the position held by the website (a search of PubMed turns up approximately 150 article on autism and mmr, many showing no relationship, not just the few mentioned here)
– Testimonials, though moving and interesting, are anecdotal evidence and should not be considered in logical decision-making
Class Evaluations
Although formal evaluations are not always necessary, feedback about the class should be encouraged. To stimulate more sharing of feedback, you could ask participants to email a neutral third party, who can strip names from the comments and forward them to you.
If you choose to do a formal evaluation it could take the form of a quiz or simply ask for feedback.
If you want feedback, ask questions such as:
– Given your computer background, this course was: Too basic; Just Right; Too Advanced
– Was the instructor prepared?
– Did the instructor meet the objectives of the session?
– What did you find most helpful about this class?
– What did you find least helpful about this class?
– Did the class meet your expectations? Why or why not?
– What additional training do you need?
– The facility for the training was: Poor; Good; Excellent
ILLUSTRATIONS:
HOW GOOGLE WORKS
Google uses a ranking system different from other search engines. Results are sorted to the top of the list if they are linked to more often by other pages. Here’s a diagram that illustrates this. You can share this with participants if there’s a white board in your training room (use three different color pens, if available – black for Page A, B, C, D, E, and F; 6 blue lines to Page 1; 4 red lines to Page 2):
| | | |
|Page A | |Page D |
| | | |
| | | |
| |Page 1 | |
| | | |
|Page B | |Page E |
| | | |
| | | |
| |Page 2 | |
| | | |
|Page C | |Page F |
Each link from a web page is considered a “vote” for that web page,
Web pages A-F all link from their pages to the Web Page 1, therefore it has 6 “votes”,
Only web pages C, D, E, and F link from their pages to Web Page 2, therefore it has 4 “votes”,
So when you search Google and it puts Web Pages 1 and 2 in a list of results, Web Page 1 is listed first and Web Page 2 is listed second.
Metasearch Engines
“Meta” means comprehensive. Metasearch engines partner with other search engines to allow one search strategy to search in multiple general or special search engines. Here’s a diagram that illustrates this:
-----------------------
MSN
AlltheWeb
HotBot
Google
Alta-
vista
Ask
Jeeves
Metasearch
Engine
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