Resources and Information
Steps in Developing a Report, Search Strategies
Bookmarks
Bookmark sites in your browser that you will want to return to. Refer to the links on these sites to locate other sites.
Metasites
Metasites are sites that list other sites, usually in an organized way. Metasites can also be called annotated directories or subject guides (see below). These should be bookmarked in your browser. An example of a metasite:
Kathy Shrock's Guide for Educators
http://discoveryschool.com/schrockguide
Kathy Schrock has compiled a categorized list of sites on the Internet found to be useful for enhancing curriculum and teacher professional growth. It is updated daily to keep up with the tremendous number of new World Wide Web sites. Sites listed have very short descriptions, not quite annotations.
Search Engines and other Search Vehicles
Refer to the Toolkit and the UC-Berkeley sites below to familiarize yourself with some of the search options available to you.
Scout Toolkit
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/toolkit/index.html
One site location strategy is to search via established search engines, subject catalogs, annotated directories, subject guides, and specialized directories. The Scout Toolkit offers brief descriptions of each of these.
Recommended Search Engines and Subject Directories
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/ToolsTables.html
This resource, part of the Teaching Library Internet Workshops of the University of California - Berkeley, aids users in choosing the best tools to use for different kinds of searches. It differentiates search indexes from subject guides and offers tips on when to use what. Highlight of the site is a detailed features table that explains Boolean syntax, phrase searching, truncation, and field searching, among other features, for several services.
More Advanced Strategies
Additional strategies include keeping a file on hand of URLs that you come across, getting recommendations from others about good sites to visit, and joining newsgroups and electronic mailing lists that discuss topics you are interested in (this would not necessarily be an appropriate strategy for younger children). These groups often post announcements of new Web sites.
NIC Master List of News groups
http://metalab.unc.edu/usenet-i/hier-s/0top-1.html
This is a comprehensive, though perhaps not frequently updated, list of newsgroups. Note that many of these newsgroups are not appropriate for children and the master list takes a long time to load.
Publicly Accessible Mailing Lists
http://www.neosoft.com/internet/paml/
A searchable listing of mailing lists that the public can access.
Internet Scout Project New-List
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/caservices/new-list/index.html
The NEW-LIST mailing list continues to provide the Internet community with prompt notification of the creation of a new mailing list on any given topic. The list is now moderated by Gleason Sackman, editor of Net-happenings and moderator of Net-newsletters and K-12-newsletters.
The Liszt Directory of E-mail Discussion Groups
http://www.liszt.com
Liszt is one of the largest directories of email discussion groups. It features fast, searchable access to information on more than 60,000 listserv, majordomo, listproc, and independently-managed mailing lists.
Mind-it
http://minder.netmind.com/
Net Mind
http://www.netmind.com/html/webmasters.html
The two sites above provide a free service that informs users of any changes that have occurred at a particular site via email. Sometimes these changes include new additions and links from the site being tracked.
