Searching Smarter Online

June 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment
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When utilizing the many resources that are available on the internet, it can be tough to know how to find specific topics, articles, and information. For those who are new to the computer world, or even have been using the internet for years but aren’t successful at obtaining information, there are few easy steps to take in order to get the most information in the shortest amount of time.

A search engine is an online resource that provides a box in which users can type in just about anything, click the button, and receive pages and pages of results. Sometimes the pages listed won’t be exactly what the individual was seeking, so there are more specialized ways to search as well. For example, placing quotation marks around words that should only be searched together can help eliminate unrelated pages. Search engines have been around for more than twenty years, and one of the most popular sites is Google, since it provides a ranking of popularity, and how many users found the page useful when performing a similar web search. This is very helpful in knowing what other individuals are researching and finding to be informative. There are many other search engines available on the internet, and most provide service at no charge. Some companies choose to pay extra in order to have their product or business listed at the top of searches, or in bold type.

The internet is one of the greatest places to market, since hundreds of thousands are logged on at all times. Choosing to use a web search can help boost business and reduce the amount of information presented at once.

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Learning Web Development on Google Chrome

June 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment
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Web development is an important tool that is becoming more relevant in a variety of different fields. If you’re interested in learning about coding, programming or just designing websites, there are lots of online or traditional courses you could learn from. Or consider downloading Google’s web browser, Google Chrome.

Chrome replaces other web browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari and has a host of built-in tools that can help budding and experienced web developers alike develop their skills and learn more about the web around them – and how they can apply what they learn to their online projects.

One of the most helpful built-in tools in Chrome for web developers is the “inspect page element” function. Right click on any web page or element on the page and choose the “inspect page element” function. This allows you to see the CSS, HTML, Javascript and other elements on the page. If you click on “Resources” from the top horizontal bar of the “inspect page element” document, you can actually render a graph that represents what percentage of the page is made up of the different elements which can give you a clue as to what you’d need to know to re-create such a page.

Besides just seeing the text, you can actually experiment with your own coding skills by creating a modified copy of any web page through the “inspect page element” function. Just start editing the code and then hit return to see how your changes look. It’s a great way to experiment with new code or find out why a certain element functions the way it does.

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What’s better, Niche or General Group Buying Sites?

April 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Many consumers have learned that they can save a lot of money by using group buying sites. As this trend continues, though, people confront a larger number of group buying options. Some of these sites focus on general group buying while others concentrate on niche markets. That has left many consumers wondering whether it’s better to use niche or general group buying sites.

Location, Location, Location

The biggest group buying sites, such as Groupon and Living Social, have already found that they can serve their clients better by focusing on local business promotion. Focusing on small, local businesses makes it possible for group buying sites to reach a larger number of consumers and acquire more clients in need of strong marketing services.

The focus on local businesses means that a person living in Denver, CO doesn’t get the same deals as someone living in New York City. Consumers find this useful because they get to take advantage of deals that appeal to them. The success of these marketing campaigns suggests that group buying sites will continue to grow by expanding into new communities and focusing on the local businesses there.

Ruling the Niche

Niche group buying sites have also shown that they can offer consumers and businesses the services that they need most. Gourmet food lovers, for instance, probably don’t want deals for cheap eats at greasy spoons. By signing up for a group buying site that focuses on their specific interests, lovers of gourmet food can get the deals that interest them rather than sifting through unappealing offers.

The appeal of niche marketing even has many people wondering whether Groupon and Living Social will eventually need to segment themselves into smaller, more focused categories. Living Social already has a site that exclusively offers deals to travelers. It’s possible that consumers will see more of this in the future.

Some of the top niche group buying sites that might interest you include

●      Parents Deals – focuses on deals for parents

●      Green Deals – offers deals for consumers concerned about the environment

●      Jdeal – concentrates on deals for Jewish consumers

Getting the Best Deals

There are plenty of group buying sites that already focus on niche markets. Searching for sites that focus on your interests will help you take advantage of the best deals. You can find sites that focus on camping, travel, food, video games, and just about anything else that you can think of.

What niche markets should group buying sites focus on to interest you?

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How To Find Good Health Information Online

March 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

A recent poll showed that over 88% of adults turn to the internet to find health information. This number is huge and it keeps rising. Just a few years ago there were less than 60 million adults that searched the internet looking for information about their symptoms, that number has now risen to over 180 million.

While it is important to be informed about what is going on, it is also important to make sure you are getting the right information. We all know that the web is full of information from people who do not necessarily know what they are talking about. There are many user contributed websites out there they you could use as a starting point, but never rely on them for the correct information.

Reading to much information on the internet can also send people into an unnecessary panic about their symptoms. You may think you have a disease just because you have symptoms that are similar to what you are reading about. It may also may lead you to believe you don’t have a disease when you actually do since symptoms can be different for different people.

There is good information available from respected medical facilities such as New York University and The Mayo Clinic. You can also use the website for the CDC as a reference, but never substitute your online research for an actual doctors visit. Even if you think you have diagnosed what you may have, you should always follow your own research with an old fashioned trip to your doctor.

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Using the Library for Online Research

March 15, 2011 by Leave a Comment

When students are assigned a research project whether it is a paper, a presentation, or a video, the first place they turn to get information is the internet. The problem with this is that the information they find on the internet is always necessarily the quality they need.

The web offers an incredible amount of access to all kinds of information including current news, and the perspectives and thoughts from experts in every field you can imagine. But it is also a public platform where anyone can give their opinion. There is no real system of checks and balances. It is important to be extremely critical of the source of the information you find on the web.

One of the best ways to get good information is to use a library website. Public libraries and school libraries will often have subscriptions to online sources that are good sources for any kind of research. These sources are usually an oline version of many sources you used to use in their print form at the library. You can now just access their online version. It is easy to cite journals, scholarly magazine articles, newspapers, and government documents.

It is also important to learn the proper way to cited online references. The standards for citing sources you find online is still in the process of developing. At this point the most important part of citing is to give as much information as you can about the source. Always include the title, the author, what the publication is, and even the URL. Some good sources on how to properly cite an online source is the MLA Style Sheet, and Hacker & Fister’s Research & Documentation Online.

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Search Engines and Directories: What They Can Do For You

March 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment

There are several different ways to search for information on the internet. Many people automatically turn to Google when they need to find information, but there may be a better way depending on the kind of information you are looking for.

Search Directories are databases that have results that are chosen by real people. Yahoo is a search engine that offers this through their special directory page. A directory is a good option when you only have a very general idea of what you need. A search directory uses text from the title and a description of the site instead of text from the actual site.

Search Engines. This is what we are all most familiar with. Google and Bing fall into this category and have the most amount of users. They use a computer program to search the web based on the words you enter into the query box. If you know what you are looking for these are a good option.

Metasearch engines. A metasearch engine search a number of search engines and directories all at the same time. This may be a good place to start, but there are shortfalls. Since different search engines use different languages, you may not get the best results from each individual database. If your query is complicated you should probably go right to a single search engine. The benefit of using a metasearch engine is that some of them have additional features such as clustering that are not found on the regular search engines.

Specialized search engines focus on only one kind of information such as news, blogs, or academic journals.

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Where to Find Websites with Good Opinions and Good Perspectives

February 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

If you are doing research, sometimes you need to find opinions about issues. This may be to get a different opinion from your own, or maybe you need to be able to provide more than one perspective on an issue. Finding well written opinions on the internet can be difficult since there are so many people out there giving their opinions.

If you have been struggling to find opinion pieces on the internet check out some of these websites. They will give you a good starting spot for many different subjects.

  • HeadlineSpot Opinion/Editorials. This website has a huge list of US newspapers and the links will get your right to the editorials and the opinion pieces. There are also some international newspapers listed.
  • PollingReport. This sites gives the results of many different surveys given to US residents. There are surveys on everything from politics, to business, and education.
  • Newspaperindex. This website offers newspapers from different countries all over the world. The countries are organized in alphabetical order so you can easily look for a specific country.
  • Social Issue. This website was developed for high school students who need to find information on different social issues. Each topic offers information and links to both sides of the issue. It also will get them to any court cases or decisions that may have affected the issue at any time. Even though this was developed for high school students, it is a great resource for all ages.
  • Publicagenda. This site gives a good analysis for social issues and where the public stands on them. There are pros and cons for each issue with links to organizations that support them. You can also decide what kind of information you need.

There is a lot of information on the internet, and a lot of it is well written and legitimate. Just make sure to verify all your sources to make sure they are coming from someone who knows what they are talking about.

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Tips for Getting the Most out of a Search on Bing

February 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Bing is working very hard to capture its portion of the search engine market share. It has some good features and is a good alternative to other search engines that have been around for a while. If you are looking for ways to get the most out of your Bing search read these tips.

  • Use the summary. If you hover your mouse on the right side of the page you will see a summary of the results page. You don’t have to click on the result to get a good idea of whether or not it is what you need.
  • Use the related searches. The left side of your page on Bing will give you a list of relates search terms. Bing does a good job of changing it up enough to give you some different ideas that can be helpful.
  • Best match. This feature will give you the best match possible for your query.
  • Save your search. You can easily save a particular search in Bing. On the left side of your page you can also quickly see your search history. This is a good feature for when you find a result you have been looking for but can’t remember the keywords you used to get it.
  • Preview Videos. If you hover your mouse over video results you can get a preview of the video without having to actually click on it. This feature makes finding the video you really want to see quick and easy.
  • Bing at a glance. Click on this link and it will bring you to all the different search types Bing offers. Search for just shopping results, images, dictionaries, or social media.
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Good References on the Web

February 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment

If you are looking for information on the internet and you are not sure where to start, you can use some of these. Here is a list of websites with credible reference information that can be used. Some of these may require a subscription in order to use the full versions, while others are free and open to all users.

  • Encyclopedia Britannica. This is the same encyclopedia that you would find in print, but just the online version. You do need to sign up for a subscription, but there is a free trial period you can take advantage of if you only need to use it for a short time.
  • Encyclopedia.com. This has thousands of articles that are provided by several different trusted sources. Some of the sources include The Columbia Encyclopedia, Medical Encyclopedias, Websters Dictionary, The Oxford Pocket Dictionary, and several others. You can find a list of the references at the bottom of the landing page.
  • Purdue University Reference. This is a pretty comprehensive site full of reference material. There is quite a bit that is local to Purdue and the area, but there is also a lot of other information as well.
  • Educator’s Reference Desk. This is a great resource for teachers and educators. It includes tips on teaching, lesson plans, education standards, and many other resources for all different grades. The page was developed by the Information Institute of Syracuse.
  • The Internet Public Library. This is a web based library that puts all kinds of reference materials right at your fingertips. It has links to credible material in any subject you could possibly think of. You can look for information by subject, or look for newspaper and magazines. There is also a section for kids and a section for teenagers.
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Tips for Internet Research: Website Evaluation

February 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment

When you are doing any kind of internet research you should also to research on your sources. If you keep a checklist of things to think about and determine as you are looking for information you can easily determine it if is credible. Credibility is necessary for any kind of citation in an academic paper.

  • First, look at authority. Determine who is in charge of the website. Is is a legitimate business or organization? You can determine this by looking for contact information or a link to their page. From there you can verify their legitimacy. If you can not verify any of this information, you should not use the website as a source.
  • Is the information accurate? You can determine accuracy in a few different ways. First look for cited sources. If there are good sources listed, the information you are getting is most likely god. Look for the qualifications of the author and how well the article is written. A well written page is more likely to be credible than one with spelling mistakes and grammar errors.
  • Is there a bias? Look at the motivation behind the page. Is is an organization trying to sell their position on an issue? Are there are advertisements all over the page so the content is not the focus? If you see these things, you should not use this website as a source.
  • Good old common sense. Your best tool for finding good sources on the internet is your own common sense. If you don’t think it is a good source, then it probably is not a good source. Move on to the next one and go from there. There is no reason to risk adding a source that is not credible when there is so much good information available.
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