[Baynet] Infopeople's online course "Essential Tools and Tips for Success in Searching Today's Web"

[Mary Crawford]

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2nd request

>>> "Linda Rodenspiel" <assist at infopeople.org> 1/17/2008 3:11 PM >>>

Many library staff members at all levels have told us they need
training in how to do more effective and efficient web searches. The
course described below is your opportunity to get that training from a
master -- wherever you are, at times convenient for you. Please note
that this course accommodates up to 75 participants; we will add
sessions as necessary to meet demand, and we will be offering the course
again in six months. We will also be offering an advanced search class,
also taught by Joe Barker, starting in May.
Since some people who may be interested in participating might not
receive this notice directly, we would appreciate it if you would print
and post or route this announcement to staff and colleagues. Thanks!

Title:  Essential Tools and Tips for Success in Searching Today*s Web
(online learning course)
Dates:  February 26, 2008 - March 24, 2008
To register for this workshop:  Use the online registration form at
http://infopeople.org/workshop/367
Fee: $75 for those in the California library community and $150 for
those out-of-state.

"Google it" is the way a lot of people find information. Often, we (and
our users) "ask Google" and are amazed how often it works. But sometimes
we get too much. Or, even when we know the answer is on the web, we
cannot construct a search that pulls out just what we need. We get
millions of search results and wonder "What next?" We lack a search
strategy for navigating the billions of web pages and other stuff that's
out there.
--What goes on in search engines? How do they "think" about searching?

--What are today's best search engines after Google? Why are they the
best? 
--What are the most useful search commands? Will they work beyond
Google? 
--How can I create searches that effectively zero in on just what I
need? 
--When is it time to turn from web search engines to subject
directories (like lii.org)? 
--How can I find good, specific directories on subjects my users or I
need to explore? 
--Is there a best search strategy for searching for a variety of
information? 
--How do I deal with the need to evaluate all the stuff on the web
quickly? 

In this course, you will explore answers to all these questions and
more. It is designed for those who want to refresh their web search
skills or are fairly new to web searching. It consolidates the most
productive essentials for finding information of many kinds, based on
the instructor's 12 years of experience teaching web search.

Workshop Description: This four-week online learning course will help
you at the reference desk or in any situation where you think, "I bet
that's on the web; let's take a look." It is designed to enhance your
speed and confidence deciding where to search, why, and how.  Through
online readings and individual exercises, you will be able to apply and
practice the essential tips and tools of web searching. The instructor
will provide cheat sheets that can be used after the course.
During the course, you will be doing exercises and taking quizzes to
help you verify your grasp of the tips and tools explained in the weekly
readings. You will also participate in online discussion forums and have
a chance to submit a real question from your own experience to be
searched and answered by another student in the class. We will discuss
your successes and frustrations with this "ready for anything" exercise
in terms of the search strategies offered in this course.

Preliminary Course Outline: Using your web browser and your Internet
connection, you will log in to the Infopeople online learning site and
complete the following learning modules:
Module One: The Best Web Search Engines Today 
--How search engines work 
--Strengths and weaknesses of Google, Ask, and Yahoo! 
--Essential search principles shared by almost all search engines 
Module Two: Using Limiter Commands to Focus Your Search Results 
--Essential limiter commands and how they work 
--Building effective searches using and combining limiter commands 
Module Three: When to Turn to Subject Directories 
--The best general subject directories today 
--The essentials of evaluating what you find on the web 
--Using Google to find specialized subject directories and link-rich
pages 
Module Four: Being "Ready for Anything" 
--Developing search strategies for different kinds of questions 
--Analyzing questions, learning as you go, and remaining flexible 
Instructor:  Joe Barker.  Until June 2007, Joe worked full time as a
reference and instruction librarian at the University of California,
Berkeley, in the Doe library and the Moffitt undergraduate library. He
also maintained an online web searching tutorial which remains one of
the most heavily used resources for finding and evaluating information
on the web. He has been teaching web searching for Infopeople,
especially in connection with answering reference questions, since 2000
on topics such as PowerSearch, State of the Art Web Searching, Extreme
Googling, Making the Most of the Post-Google Web, and Web 2.0: Searching
Innovations. 
Online Learning Details: 
This four-week course will be taught online using the web. When you
register, you will receive a registration confirmation that will include
the URL to get to the course, as well as a username and password. 
Every student proceeds through the online learning modules at his or
her own pace. Students should expect to commit to spending a minimum of
2 to 2* hours per week on this course in order to be successful. You can
work on each module at your own pace, at any hour of the day or night.
However, you will be expected to log in to the course each week to do
that week's assignment. We ask that you log in sometime during the first
week of the course to begin the course work.
Your instructor will be available for limited consultation support for
two weeks after the official end date of a course, and the course
material will stay up for an additional two weeks after that, to give
those who have fallen behind time to work independently on the course.
However, you will be expected to accomplish the majority of the course
in synchronization with your peers during the first four weeks.
Who Should Take This Course: Anyone from the library community with an
interest in improving his or her skills and efficiency at finding
information on the web. This course covers the essentials of using
search engines and subject directories and shows how to integrate them
into search strategies to find what you need. It also succinctly covers
evaluating web information. It will be followed by an Advanced Searching
online course scheduled to begin in May 2008. 
Prerequisites:
This course is taught over the web. You must:
--Have an Internet connection and Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher. 
--Be able to save Microsoft Word .doc or Adobe .pdf files to your
computer and print them out. (For .doc files, a free Word Viewer is
available at
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.aspx?displaylang=en. Search
for "Word Viewer." For .pdf files, a free Adobe Acrobat Reader is
available at http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/main.html). 
--Be comfortable navigating on the web and navigating back and forward
on a website that uses frames. 
--To be most successful in this course, be willing to share information
with your colleagues and be willing to spend time reading and
participating in the weekly discussion boards. 
System Requirements: The online learning product that Infopeople uses
is called Angel. The following are minimum system requirements for using
Angel. You will need access to a computer that has at least these
specifications to participate in an online course: 
Windows: 
--Internet Explorer 6.0 and above, Netscape 7.1 and above, or Firefox
1.5 and above 
Macintosh: 
--Mozilla 1.4 and above (which is the same engine as Netscape 7.1),
Safari 2.0 and above, or Firefox 1.5 and above 
--OS X and above (OS 9 will NOT work with our online learning product)
If you are not comfortable with any of the above, please consider
taking this course with a colleague who does meet these requirements.
To view a complete list of Infopeople workshops and for general
information about Infopeople Training opportunities, go to the main
Infopeople Workshops page athttp://www.infopeople.org/workshop
If you have questions about registration or scheduling of workshops,
please contact Linda Rodenspiel, the Infopeople Project Assistant, at
assist at infopeople.org or by phone at 650-578-9685.
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