Information Technology Fundamentals 2.1 Database Search vs Open Web PDF

CCIT4085 Information Technology Fundamentals 2.1 Database Search vs. Open Web 24-25s1 Database Search vs. Open Web obtain/make use of ▪ Accessing Information 1) 2) ▪ Library-subscribed databases vs. Search engines ▪ 4 Pr...

CCIT4085 Information Technology Fundamentals 2.1 Database Search vs. Open Web 24-25s1 Database Search vs. Open Web obtain/make use of ▪ Accessing Information 1) 2) ▪ Library-subscribed databases vs. Search engines ▪ 4 Principles for effective searches guidelines ▪ Open Web ▪ Evaluation of web contents ▪ Search engine evaluators and optimization 2  Accessing Information ❑Information Access - the freedom or ability to identify, obtain and Def make use of data or information effectively. ❑The objective is to simplify and make it more effective for human users to access and further process large and unwieldy amounts of data and information. massive ❑Being able to search and obtain useful and relevant information is a competitive edge for organisations as well as individuals education, entertainment, social communication, job 3  1) Library-Subscribed Databases vs. Search 2) Engines Comparison Search Engines search the entire world wide web: (Internet) A sea of entertainment, news, social networking and information of all kinds. search Examples: Google, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Baidu engine via browser specific (education or research) The Library Databases are made especially for college-level research ▪ Search collections of journals, magazines, newspapers, ebooks, etc. - - often focused on a particular subject. whole book content ▪ Quick full-text access to hundreds of thousands of subscription-only journals and ebooks. or 100 pages for downloading pay license fee and make registration 4 Searching Library- Subscribed Databases guidelines ▪ A few basic principles will help you find the information you want from the many online resources, ejournals and databases to which the Library provides access. 1. Choose effective search terms (keywords) 2. Use Boolean operators 3. Use truncation 4. Use the thesaurus 5 1. Choose effective search terms (keywords) Be clear about your topic and think carefully about what information you are trying to find. Consider: ▪ All the possible words or phrases which describe your topic. For example: 'teenagers', 'young people', 'adolescents', 'youth'. ▪ Alternative spellings. For example: search for 'color' as well as 'colour’. ▪ Alternative terminology: search for 'sidewalk' as well as 'pavement’, ‘PC as well as ‘Computer’, etc. same meaning ▪ Variations in word endings. For example: 'nurse', 'nurses', 'nursing’. ▪ Acronyms: search for 'television' as well as 'TV’. Abbreviation ▪ Do not use long descriptive phrases which would only find references with that exact phrase. ▪ Try searching on the author’s name for other related work and follow up on bibliographic references. personal background and research interests 6  2. Use Boolean operators connect multiple keywords for searching Using basic Boolean operators such as AND, OR and NOT, can help link concepts and search terms. Associativity connect Which of the following represent results of X AND Y, X OR Y, amount of result after X AND NOT Y? searching X Y X Y X Y 1 2 3 X OR Y X AND NOT Y X AND Y more specific wider result 7 Exercise ▪ What is the Boolean operation that gives the following result? X Y NOT (X AND Y) X XOR Y exclusive or 8 3. Use truncation Search terms may have variant endings, for example: nurse, nurses, nursing. If all search terms are relevant, use a truncation symbol to find results containing all variations of a word. Searching for 'nurs*' will find nurse, nurses, nursed, nursing, nursery. 9 3. Use truncation Common truncation symbols are: * ? # Regulation1 Regulation2 10 4. Use the thesaurus Many databases use a thesaurus (a controlled vocabulary of terms or subject headings), to ensure that all items on a particular topic have standard search terms (or keywords) assigned to them. E.g. The thesaurus of ‘computer’ include: Most relevant: CPU, PC, abacus, analog, brain, calculator, clone, laptop, mac, mainframe, microcomputer, mini, minicomputer Less relevant: adding machine, artificial intelligence, data processor, digital, electronic brain, micro, number cruncher, personal computer, thinking machine 11 Scholarly Articles, Journals, and Research Papers Platforms for accessing scholarly articles, journals, and research papers:  Google Scholar  Microsoft Academic  PubMed  ResearchGate  JSTOR  Scopus 12 Books and Literary Content Platforms for accessing books and literary content:  Google Books  Project Gutenberg  Internet Archive  Open Library  HathiTrust  Scribd 13  Free to search for any info Open Web covers for software/application development  Encompasses: Research types Technical concepts like open-source code and open standards; and also digital formats photo, video, documentation Democratic concepts like free expression and digital inclusion. An open web is a web by and for all its users, not select less screening gatekeepers or governments. sharing via social media developed by searched for The ability to openly do three kinds of things: Users 1. publish content and applications on the web in open standards can 2. code and implement the web standards that content/apps depend on for photo/text only 3. access and use content / code / web-apps / implementations 14 1. Publishing content and applications ▪ This ability to openly publish depends on a few things: with less screening/filtering web page/app development Open formats for freely publishing what you write, photograph, video and otherwise create, author, or code (e.g., HTML, CSS, JavaScript, JPEG, PNG, Ogg, WebM etc.). Internet languages URL www.google.com Internet Service Providers Domain name registrars and web hosting services that, like phone companies, don't judge your content. Cheap internet access that doesn't discriminate based on domains no blocking 15 2. Coding and implementing web standards ▪ Web standards that are: restriction of age for adult only Openly documented, in this day and age, on the web itself. Freely accessible. there should be no charge to view a web standards specification. no blocking Unencumbered by patents, either patent-free, or available under unconditional royalty free licenses. for educational purposes (not for business) 16 3. Access to content and applications on the web Be able to serve and access any kind of content across any domain name on any web device. Ability to browse and use any web page or application (i.e., URL) on your web browsing device and internet service screening/filtering Must be without censorship per domain, URL, content-type, or nature of the content. 17  Justification Evaluation of Web Contents with accuracy and reliability ▪6 Criteria for evaluating web contents, other than graphics and site design: 1. Authority - reveals that the person, institution or agency responsible for a site has the qualifications and knowledge to do so. online ▪ Authorship: It should be clear who developed the site. ▪ Contact information should be clearly provided: e-mail address, journal snail mail address, phone number, and fax number. ▪ Credentials: the author should state qualifications, credentials, or personal background that gives them authority to present information. ▪ Check to see if the site supported by an organization or a commercial body IEEE org. 18 Evaluation of Web Contents copy someone's style subjective 2. Purpose - the purpose of the information presented in the site should be clear. Some sites are meant to inform, persuade, state an opinion, entertain, or parody something or someone. ▪ Does the content support the purpose of the site? research/education/entertainment ▪ Is the information geared to a specific audience (students, scholars, general reader)? specific suitable to ▪ Is the site organized and focused? sources of info ▪ Are the outside links appropriate for the site? ▪ Does the site evaluate the links? ▪ Check the domain of the site. The URL may indicate its purpose..org official/reliable.edu 19  Evaluation of Web Contents range (general or specific) 3. Coverage - it is difficult to assess the extent of coverage since depth in a site, through the use of links, can be infinite. AI complete/full One author may claim comprehensive coverage of a topic simple while another may cover just one aspect of a topic. robotics in AI ▪ Does the site claim to be selective or comprehensive? more ▪ Are the topics explored in depth? detail ▪ Compare the value of the site’s information compared to other similar sites. Do the links go to outside sites rather than its own? ▪ Does the site provide information with no relevant outside links? 20 Evaluation of Web Contents updating info 4. Currency - it is important to know how current the information presented is, and how often the site is updated or maintained. Information to know include: ▪ when the content was first created, ▪ when it was placed on the website, and ▪ when it was last revised. updated Also check if: Links are up-to-date Links provided should be reliable. Dead links or references to sites that have moved are not useful. up-to-date info Information provided is trend-related that its usefulness is limited to a certain time period? The site has been under construction for some time? 21 Evaluation of Web Contents subjective opinion 5. Objectivity - objectivity of the site should be clear. Beware of sites that contain bias or do not admit its bias freely. Objective sites present information with a minimum of bias. ▪ Is the information presented with a particular bias? ▪ Does the information try to swaypersuade the audience? ▪ Does site advertising conflict with the content? ▪ Is the site trying to explain, inform, persuade, or sell something? 22  Evaluation of Web Contents 6. Accuracy - there are few standards to verify the accuracy of information on the web. It is the responsibility of the reader to assess the information presented. knowledge e-journal▪ Reliability: Is the author affiliated with a known, respectable institution? personal background/biography on ▪ References: do statistics and other factual information receive google proper references as to their origin? scholar ▪ Does the reading you have already done on the subject make the information seem accurate? literative reviews ▪ Is the information comparable to other sites on the same topic? ▪ Does the text follow basic rules of grammar, spelling and composition? ▪ Is a bibliography or reference list included?? citations 23  Search Engine Evaluators prevent fraudulent web content (prevent illegal site)s Search engine evaluators give feedback to ensure Def that internet search results are comprehensive, accurate, timely and that they are spam-free and relevant to the searcher's intent. They are the human check on the complicated algorithms that search engines run. For example, if you type ‘HKUSPACE’ into a search engine, you expect the official website would appear at or near the top of the results list. It is the search evaluator job to determine the relevancy of these pages based on specific search terms. Google, Microsoft, etc. employ Search Engine Evaluators to help evaluate the effectiveness of their search engines, such as Bing, etc. how long for searching and the amount of result 24  Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ranking/priority SEO is a type of techniques for optimizing web pages in order to make them search engine friendly for getting higher position in search engine result pages (SERP). Helps in increasing visitors to a website, in order to achieve high ADV quality organic, free and natural traffic as well as improve ranking and increasing the visibility in the search engine results. 25  Question – Browser = Search Engine A browser is a software program installed on your computer locally. Def Examples: Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox, Opera A browser is used to access various websites and web pages. by typing URL A search engine is also a software program that searches for some particular documents when specific keywords are entered. The search engine matches the exact keywords entered against the documents available on the Internet and returns a list of documents in which the keywords were found. Google, Bing, Baidu and Yahoo are the popular search engines. Use a browser to get a search engine Open Chrome or Edge and then type the web address of a search engine such as google.com, bing.com. URL 26