Five things every child should understand about online searching before starting Middle School

 

1 There are three ways to search online  

Search engines (still) perform literal matching

Subject Directories are best for stimulating ideas

Browsing is the slowest and hardest way to search

2 Effective searching depends on Keywords (choosing them thoughtfully produces the best results)

Objects are better than Actions (who, what, where, when and why are better than how)

Proper Nouns and Numbers are the most powerful Keywords

3. The first thing you find is probably not the information you need

Information at the top of the list is not always relevant

Every search result contains clues that will improve your search

4 The information you find may not be accurate. Use information only from trusted sources

Younger—search only trusted sources Older—evaluate author, publisher and fact-check to determine if a source can be trusted

5 The information you find belongs to someone else--you need to give them credit

Information to be cited (minimum): (who) Author or Publisher, (what) Title, (where) Web address, (when) date found online

 

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