Posts Tagged ‘Google’

Mining the web like a pro: Google and beyond

December 3rd, 2012 by Jack

Points of emphasis for critical thinking:

  1. There’s more to search engines than just plugging in words.  The best searchers use the advanced features.  There are many places to find Google tips.
  2. No mainstream search engines, even Google, search anywhere close to the entire web.  They don’t index every page or database result, nor the entirety of many longer documents.  What’s not retrievable via these engines is known as the “deep web” or “invisible web.”  That’s why you need to familiarize yourself with many of the sources I’ve reviewed this semester.  You can’t rely on Google exclusively.
  3. Web sites are not all created equalEvaluate, and trust primary sources FIRST.  Sometimes you’ll want to check who owns a web site.
  4. Web pages don’t die easily.  Old pages can be treasure troves.
  5. The first breakout web search tool was a subject guide.  They are still around and still useful.
  6. In addition to the “general” search tools, there are great “specialty” engines too.  Among the best known are Google NewsGoogle Books and YouTube.

For more, see Barbara Gray’s guide.

April’s best

April 30th, 2012 by Jack

Thanks again for a great semester, everyone!  Here’s the last batch of bylines…

Amital Isaac reported on the New York Botanical Garden’s annual Orchid Show for the News Service.

At the Local, Erin Horan wrote about Ed Towns’ love of golf and covered a Stop the Violence march in Fort Greene.

And I finished up my season-long series on the most important college basketball statistics.

Research bonus: The Research Center has posted some excellent videos on Factiva and a new mobile app, with the latter hosted by one of your classmates (ask Melissa her middle names…LOL).

Double bonus: Check out the new online photo gallery from New York City Department of Records Municipal Archives, as noted on the New York Times City Room blog.

One more: Here’s a good article on the state of advanced searching in Google.

And a flashback: This week marks a major anniversary.

Mining the web like a pro: Google and beyond

November 28th, 2011 by Jack

Points of emphasis for critical thinking:

  1. There’s more to search engines than just plugging in words.  The best searchers use the advanced features.  There are many places to find Google tips.
  2. No mainstream search engines, even Google, search anywhere close to the entire web.  They don’t index every page or database result, nor the entirety of many longer documents.  What’s not retrievable via these engines is known as the “deep web” or “invisible web.”  That’s why you need to familiarize yourself with many of the sources I’ve reviewed this semester.  You can’t rely on Google exclusively.
  3. Web sites are not all created equalEvaluate, and trust primary sources FIRST.  Sometimes you’ll want to check who owns a web site.
  4. Web pages don’t die easily.  Old pages can be treasure troves.
  5. The first breakout web search tool was a subject guide.  They are still around and still useful.
  6. In addition to the “general” search tools, there are great “specialty” engines too.  Among the best known are Google NewsGoogle Books and YouTube.

For more, see Barbara Gray’s guide.

Mining the web like a pro: Google and beyond

November 29th, 2010 by Jack

Points of emphasis for critical thinking:

  1. There’s more to search engines than just plugging in words.  The best searchers use the advanced features.  There are many places to find Google tips.
  2. No mainstream search engines, even Google, search anywhere close to the entire web.  They don’t include every page, nor the entirety of many longer documents.  That’s why you need to familiarize yourself with many of the sources I’ve reviewed this semester.  You can’t rely on Google exclusively.
  3. Web sites are not all created equalEvaluate, and trust primary sources FIRST.  Sometimes you’ll want to check who owns a web site.
  4. Web pages don’t die easily.  Old pages can be treasure troves.
  5. The first breakout web search tool was a subject guide.  They are still around and still useful.
  6. In addition to the “general” search tools, there are great “specialty” engines too.  Among the best known are Google NewsGoogle Books and YouTube.

Some interesting stuff

December 10th, 2009 by Jack

Mining the web like a pro: Google and beyond

November 30th, 2009 by Jack

Points of emphasis for critical thinking:

  1. There’s more to search engines than just plugging in words.  The best searchers use the advanced features.  There are many places to find Google tips.
  2. No mainstream search engines, even Google, search anywhere close to the entire web.  They don’t include every page, nor the entirety of many longer documents.  That’s why you need to familiarize yourself with many of the sources I’ve reviewed this semester.  You can’t rely on Google exclusively.
  3. Web sites are not all created equalEvaluate, and trust primary sources FIRST.  Sometimes you’ll want to check who owns a web site.
  4. Web pages don’t die easily.  Old pages can be treasure troves.
  5. The first breakout web search tool was a subject guide.  They are still around and still useful.
  6. In addition to the “general” search tools, there are great “specialty” engines too.  Among the best known are Google NewsGoogle Books and YouTube.

Kerri MacDonald, on a roll

November 16th, 2009 by Jack

On “The Local” blog for the New York Times, Kerri covered a debate over whether rooming houses should be allowed in South Orange.

Today’s bonus: In the spring, I mentioned that archives of several magazines are being hosted at Google Books.   Now I’ve found a complete list, including Life.

Today’s burning questions

September 26th, 2009 by Jack

Is Twitter really worth a billion bucks?

Is this what we should learn from the Mark Whicker debacle?

In light of the ACORN videos and their subsequent media coverage, does this Slate column make a good case for “activist” journalism?

On a related note, could Media Matters, despite some good points on fact-checking and the like, be more apoplectic about it? (And would they be if this weren’t “conservative” activism?)

Regarding the Google Book Search controversy, have you seen the New York Times topic page and the Open Book Alliance site?

Also on the topic of digital archives, will this joint effort take off?

Last but not least, did you know you’re already working for the Times? (See video below.)

Worthwhile reading

September 19th, 2009 by Jack

If you’re looking for more on the Google Book Search brouhaha I mentioned in my “summer reading” post, I discovered a pretty thorough bibliography on the subject, going back to late 2003.

Or if you’re keeping tabs on the upcoming New York City elections, check this out.  Races from the mayor on down.

Today’s bonus: I’m expecting big things from this New York Times series on Toxic Waters.  It’s a great example of what I mean by “research-inspired enterprise.”  The Times web site also had some fine bells and whistles last week on the one-year anniversary of the financial crisis.

How I spent my summer

August 28th, 2009 by Jack

OK, I won’t bore you with a kiddie-style rundown of everything I did the last few months, but here’s some stuff I came across that may interest you…

Just this month, MSNBC acquired EveryBlock, a hyperlocal news aggregator you should definitely check out if you’re not already familiar with it. Also, several parties are challenging a settlement between Google Books and authors and publishers. And this week, I was happy to read that Wikipedia is getting stricter.

Earlier, I stumbled upon an interesting (albeit lengthy) web project about The Future of Journalism. Related to that, I largely agreed with this Columbia Journalism Review article, but found this Huffington Post piece utterly ridiculous.

Here’s a good 4-minute video on political fact-checking.

Twitter obsessed? Then check out The Ultimate List of Twitter Tools.

Speaking of Twitter, Editor & Publisher posted the Wall Street Journal’s rules for online conduct and Pro Football Talk did likewise with ESPN’s guidelines. In January, Poynter had posted the New York Times policy on social networking.

Speaking of the Times, an embarrassing snafu there last month showed the importance of fact-checking and research (more here and here). On the positive side, this New York City homicides map is pretty impressive and the paper continues to develop the Represent database of elected officials representing NYC addresses. Lastly, if you’re looking for Times-related laughs, did you read this article or see this segment from Comedy Central’s Daily Show?

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
End Times
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political Humor Newt Gingrich Unedited Interview