Web
Sites for Teachers
Note: As of the posting date, these URLs
were
active. We have no control over these sites, though, and the Web is
very volatile.
Please let the L&L
Webmaster know if you find a
broken link,
and we’ll do our best to update it.
AskLN (Ask the Learning Network, www.att.com/learningnetwork/askln.html)
Send
your questions about integrating technology into the
classroom to
AskLN, a free online question-and-answer service for
educators by
the AT&T Learning Network. A teacher who has
experience integrating
technology into the K–12 classroom setting will
answer your
questions by e-mail.
Ed.Net Briefs (http://edbriefs.com)
Receive
a free weekly e-mail newsletter, each containing summaries
of important
or interesting education news stories from around the
country. The
complete source citation is always included.
ERIC (The Educational Resources Information Center, www.accesseric.org)
Search
the ERIC database to find citations for journal articles
and ERIC
documents. ERIC digests (short reports) are also available
in full
text. Further, information on how to submit a document to
ERIC and
subscribe to an ERIC listserv is provided.
FREE (Federal Resources for Educational Excellence, www.ed.gov/free)
Proposed
by President Clinton in 1997, this site links teachers and
students
to hundreds of education resources sponsored by various
federal
agencies.
Search Engine Watch (www.searchenginewatch.com)
Read
search engine status reports and all about advanced
searching techniques.
This site also provides information on how search engines
find and
rank Web pages.
Teachers.Net (www.teachers.net)
This
site includes lesson plans, employment listings, and
hundreds of
links to education-related Web sites. In addition, you can
even
chat online with other teachers around the world.
The Help Web (www.imaginarylandscape.com/helpweb)
This
site is intended for Internet beginners. You can read
about the
history of the Internet and learn about the World Wide
Web, e-mail,
and file transfer protocol (FTP).
U.S. Department of Education (www.ed.gov)
Visit
this site for information on funding opportunities. Also
included
on this site are statistics, education-related news, and
postings
on upcoming conferences and meetings.
WSU Libraries List of Search Engines (www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/general/robots.htm)
This site
provides you with a list and a brief analysis of many search engines
available
on the Web.
Search
Engines
Students
need to choose a search engine wisely. When one
doesn’t work,
they should try another.
Once
a student has chosen an appropriate search engine, she or
he will
need to construct a search statement. Every search engine
is a little
different in how it conducts searches. Some require
Boolean connectors
between search terms. Some will automatically truncate
words. Some
will accept + and - to indicate the importance of search
terms.
Every
search engine has a page that will explain how best to
create a
search statement. To use a search engine well, the student
should
look at the “Search Hints” or “Help”
screen.
Most Web surfers don’t take the time to do it, but
visiting
that page and thinking about a good search statement will
save a
lot of time in the long run. Some of the search engines
and their
functions currently available are listed below.
Note: As of the posting date, these
URLs were
active. We have no control over these sites, though, and
the Web
is very volatile. Please let the L&L
Webmaster know if
you find
a broken link, and we’ll do our best to update it.
AltaVista (www.altavista.com)
More
than 30 million Web pages, on all topics, created by a
wide variety
of people and organizations. Pages are added and deleted
electronically.
Use “+” to indicate words that must be contained
on a
page; use “-” for words that must not be
contained on
pages. Quotation marks must be used for searching phrases.
AltaVista
also includes truncation, specific field searching, and
limiting
to one of 25 languages.
Argos (http://argos.evansville.edu)
Covers
sites dealing in the study of ancient and medieval worlds.
Peer
reviewed and maintained by individuals qualified in this
subject
area. There is no Boolean, adjacency, or proximity
searching; truncation
is accepted.
Excite (www.excite.com)
More
than 50 million Web sites; you can also search 60,000
reviewed sites,
and an index of 300 online magazines and newspapers. Use
“+”
to indicate words that must be contained on a page; use
“-”
for words that must not be contained on pages. Quotation
marks must
be used for searching phrases. Truncation is not
available. Has
concept searching, which uses synonyms of keywords; can be
sorted
by site after the search is completed.
KidsClick! (http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/KidsClick!)
A
database of more than 5,000 records of interest to kids.
The contents
of the database have been selected, annotated, and
categorized by
a team of librarians. Allows for truncation and Boolean
searching.
You can limit by grade level and the amount of pictures on
the pages
you find. You can search all or specified fields (title,
subject,
or descriptions) or search for part of a URL.
Magellan (http://magellan.excite.com)
Browse
or search more than 50 million resources, including 60,000
“green-light
sites” that are guaranteed not to have material
relating to
pornography, pedophilia, or hate groups. Use “+”
to indicate
words that must be contained on a page; use “-”
for words
that must not be contained on pages. Quotation marks must
be used
for searching phrases. Truncation not available; allows
Boolean
operators.
MathSearch (www.maths.usyd.edu.au:/MathSearch.html)
More
than 190,000 html documents from English-language
mathematics and
statistics servers. Allows adjacency searching and does
some automatic
truncation.
Northern Light (www.nlsearch.com)
Offers
three searches: the Web, NL’s Special Collection, or
both.
The Special Collection contains information from more than
“5,400
trusted, full-text journals, books, magazines, newswires,
and reference
sources.” For these articles, you get the citation
and must
pay for the article. Boolean capabilities and some
specific field
searching. Use “+” to indicate words that must
be contained
on a page; use “-” for words that must not be
contained
on pages. Quotation marks must be used for searching
phrases. Allows
truncation. Can search specific fields.
Yahoo! (www.yahoo.com)
Very
popular, Yahoo! combines the search engine with a
directory structure.
All types of pages, created by all types of people, can be
found
here. Use “+” to indicate words that must be
contained
on a page; use “-” for words that must not be
contained
on pages. Quotation marks must be used for searching
phrases. It
allows Boolean searches, truncation, and some specific
field searching.
Yahooligans! (www.yahooligans.com)
All sites
are carefully checked to ensure that they are appropriate for kids
ages 7–12.
Many of the search functions used with Yahoo! can be used with
Yahooligans!
However, with Yahooligans!, it is usually sufficient to simply specify
a search
word or a set of search words.
Directories
Directories
are compiled and organized by humans. Compare them to search engines,
which
are compiled and organized by computers. Directories often are
higher-quality
resources, and many are maintained by universities and libraries.
Directories
also provide a way for students to browse among a list of topics,
which is not
possible on many search engines. Some of the best directories
available on the
Web are listed here.
Note: As of the posting date, these URLs were
active. We
have no control over these sites, though, and the Web is very
volatile. Please
let the L&L
Webmaster know if you find a
broken link,
and we’ll do our best to update it.
Argus Clearinghouse (www.clearinghouse.net)
Librarian’s Index to the Internet (http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/InternetIndex)
Pinakes: A Subject Launchpad (www.hw.ac.uk/libWWW/irn/pinakes/pinakes.html)
WWW Virtual Library (http://vlib.stanford.edu/Overview.html)
Copyright © 2000, ISTE (International Society for Technology in
Education).
All rights reserved.
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