Learning Goals: Students will be able to

• search for and access information efficiently
• properly cite sources on the web with complete accuracy
• evaluate information critically
• explain how the information they have found relates to topics in this course

Assignment: Carefully work through the following two web sites:

• Finding it On Line: Web Search Strategies by Debbie Flanagan, paying particular attention to the section on the Google search engine.
• A Student's Guide to Research with the WWW by Craig Branham.

Using the first reading, plan a search strategy for locating web sites relevant to [course topic]. Conduct one or more searches (as needed), starting with the Google search engine. Describe your search strategy, including keywords, methods, and search engines employed, and indicate how successful it was according to time it took and the quality of the results returned.

Using the second reading, choose 2 sites that you would rate as excellent and useful for this course, and 2 that you would not recommend for the course. For each web site, provide the following

1. a correct citation (see Citing Electronic/Internet Resources) including the title, URL, and name of author (if available)
2. a brief description of the content of the site that would give other students a good idea of its nature.
3. an evaluation that uses the criteria for relevance, authority, and accuracy to explain why you have recommended or rejected the site as a link for this course. For recommended sites, be sure to explain why you think this site would make an important contribution to students' understanding of the course topic.
4. a description of your personal reaction to each web site (is it attractive? does it make you want to learn about the topic? why or why not?).

Submit your report to me in MSWord format as an email attachment by [date]. I will add links that are chosen, described, and defended well to the course web page.