Lesson 3:

Contextualized Online
Search and Research Skills

Writer: Prof. Ariel Domingo

AY 2022-2023
 What I Need to Know?

This module was designed and written with you in mind. It is here to help you
master the Contextualized Online Search and Research Skills. The scope of
this module permits it to be used in many different learning situations. The
language used recognizes the diverse vocabulary level of students. The
lessons are arranged to follow the standard sequence of the course.

The module has one lesson, namely:

• Lesson 3 – Contextualized Online Search and Research Skills

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. Use precise keywords to improve online searches; and
2. Evaluate website’s credibility

What I Know?

Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter on a separate
sheet of paper.

1. A reliable source is .
A. Biased
B. Trying to sell you something
C. Trusted
D. Google

2. To broaden your search on advertising, you will search the term .

A. advertising OR commercial
B. advertising AND commercial
C. advertising BUT commercial
D. advertising NOT commercial

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3. Which of the following do you not need to include in a citation?
A. author, if available
B. title of the article
C. date of publication
D. call number

4. Any information coming from these domain types are usually reliable except
A. .com
B. .org
C. .edu
D. .gov

5. What symbol will you use to search for the exact term or phrase?
A. ()
B. ““
C. &
D. –

Let’s check your work!

Image source: https://images.app.goo.gl/bP9jRJyfhufScjJJ8

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 Lesson
Contextualized Online
3 Search and Research Skills

Information is just literally just a click away. Information can be accessed

through personal computers, smartphones, and other digital devices
anytime and anywhere. However, most of the Internet users are experiencing
an information overload which oftentimes affects the quality of information
that they take. They often take information online as facts even if it is just
the author’s opinion.

What’s In?

Let’s have a short recap from the previous lesson 2. We learned from
lesson about the various cyber risks that we can face online. If we post too
much information about ourselves, we can be a victim of identity theft. If we
enter our bank details on phishing sites, our savings on our bank accounts
may be compromised. Our computer may slow down if we are not careful to
download content from unreliable websites.

We also shortly tackled how to protect our protection online and how to avoid
copyright infringement by always asking permission or giving credit to the
original author of the page or information.

In our next topic we will discuss about some practices and increase our
knowledge when visiting and getting information from different websites.

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 What’s New?

Online Search Activity

Search from the internet to answer the given question using any search
engine. Provide the required data below. Write your answers on a separate
sheet of paper.

Question: When do you say that an information contained in web

pages is credible or not?

Search engine used:

Keywords:

Number of Search Results:

Sites used to answer question:

1.
2.
3.

Answer to the question:

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 What is It?

Did you type the whole question on the search box? Are you sure that you
get your answer from reliable websites? Are the authors of article you get
your answers from are credible? Are there articles listed on the search
results that re irrelevant to your question?

On this lesson, we will learn how to evaluate website’s credibility and use
keywords to specify our search term.

Tips on Improving Search and Research Skills

Online search and research are more than just ‘googling’ – typing a word in
Google and then clicking the search button. It is a skill that every Internet
user should know to do smart searching and this starts with improving
search and research skills to get better results.
Here are the things that you need to know to improve your online search
and research skills. This will guide you to obtain the most relevant
information that you need.
1. When searching online, narrow your topic. Identify the key
concepts or important ideas. Assuming that you would like to search
for the answer to this question:
“What precautionary measures should you observe when you are
logged- in in a public computer?”

Do not type the whole question in the search box. Typing the whole
question often leads to a large number of and inappropriate search
results.

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 Image source: https://www.inspire.scot/blog/2016

From the question, the keywords are: precautionary measures,

observed, logged-in, public computer.

Keywords are terms that are used in by most search engines to find related
documents.

2. Put the word “AND” between each keyword to create a search string.
You may type the following in the search box:

Image source: https://www.inspire.scot/blog/2016/11/11/top-12-best-search-engines

Precautionary measures AND observe AND logged-in AND public

computer

You will notice a decrease in search results as shown below.

3. Identify synonyms of the key words. Not all databases or articles

use the same words to describe a topic. Group similar words together
by using the word “OR” for a quick and relevant search.
In the case of our example: the synonyms of some of the
keywords are: Precautionary measures – preventive
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 measures
Observe – pay attention
to Logged-in – signed-in

You may type the following in the search box:

Precautionary measures OR preventive measures AND observe OR
pay attention to AND logged-in OR signed-in AND public
computer

This gives you another set of search results:

Image source: Google image

4. Review the first pages returned. If these are not helpful, change your
keywords for a better description.
In this case you may remove the phrase “pay attention to” and then type the
following in the search box:
Precautionary measures OR preventive measures AND
observe AND logged-in or signed-in AND public computer.
This gives you another set of search results.
If you think you have found what you are searching for, then you may stop here.
Otherwise, you may proceed with these other techniques.
5. Use the plus (+) sign for a more specific search. Just type + before
a keyword to indicate that the word after the sign is a required word
that must be found in the search.
Example: +preventive measures

6. Use the minus (-) sign for a more specific search. If you want to
exclude a word from your search, place a minus sign just before
(without any space) the word you want to exclude.
Example: public computers -personal

7. Use wildcards for a broader search. Wildcard characters (*) let

you find variations of a word.
Example: measur*

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 8. Use quotation marks to find phrases or names. Enclose the
phrase or names that you want to search in quotation marks.
Example: “precautionary measures"

9. Use several search engines. Search engines are programs that look
for documents based from specified keywords and return these
documents where the keywords were found. Major search engines
include Google, Yahoo (which uses Google), AltaVista, Bing, and Lycos.

Evaluating Websites
To help you evaluate the website’s credibility, here are the questions that
you need to answer:
1. What is the domain type of the website?

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 If it is a personal website, then you should further evaluate the website.

2. Who wrote the article?

Check if the author’s credentials or affiliations are listed so you can
tell whether or not the author is qualified to write the topic. Check
also the publisher of the article if it is a reliable publisher. Make sure
that the author provides e-mail or a contact address/phone number.

3. What is the purpose of the document and why was it produced?

It is also important to check the document’s purpose and why it was

produced. The document should provide accurate information and
must be objective in presenting it. Some websites produce documents
for the purpose of motivating users to buy products. If this is the case,
information might be biased. However, bias is not necessarily bad but
you need to investigate the author or connections.

4. When was the document published and updated?

The document should be regularly updated. As to the freshness of

the date, it depends on the information needed. For some topics
you want current information. For others, you want information near
the time it became known. The links should also be up-to-date.
There should be no dead links.

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 What’s More?

Create a simple flowchart on how to evaluate a website. Below is the sample

of a flowchart. Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper.

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 What I Have Learned?

Explain each question in not less than three sentences. Provide a separate
sheet of paper for your answers. The following is the rubric in rating your
answer.

Rubrics: Content – 10pts Grammar – 5pts

1. What is the significance of using keywords when searching for

information on the web?

2. How do the tips in conducting online research help you find the
correct query results?

3. What is the role of the website's domain in evaluating website credibility?

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 What I Can Do?

Explain thoroughly why the website below is not credible as a source of your data
for your research. Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper.

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 Activity
Directions:
The column on the left tells what to search for. On the second column, you
will write on the search box what will you type to achieve the task. Apply the
use of symbols and tip you’ve learned. Check the first one as an example.
Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper.

Task Search Term

Find web pages
that have... Atlantis continent
all these words:
Atlantis continent

Atlantis continent –shuttle –film –movie

But don't show
pages that
have...any of these
unwanted
words: shuttle film
movie
Find web pages
that have...
all these words:
Atlantis
Find web pages
that have...
all these words:
Waterbury

But don't show

pages that have...
any of these
unwanted
words: Connecticut
CT
Find web pages
that have...
all these words:
Waterbury

this exact wording

or phrase:
San Diego
State University

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Find web pages
that have...
the song title of
this lyrics:
Mama ‘something’
‘something’ not to
‘something’ my life

this exact
wording or
phrase: Bill 602P

this exact
wording or
phrase: We know
he has weapons of
mass destruction
this exact
wording or
phrase:
demonstrating
genuine leadership
this exact wording
or phrase: Jenny
kissed me when we
met

Additional Activities

Evaluate the given two web pages by answering the questions on the
table. Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper.

http://animals.national
http://zapatopi.net/tre geographic.com/animal
eoctopus/ s/invertebrates/commo
n-octopus

What is the domain

type?

Does the page list

the author?

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 Does it provide
accurate information?

Does the page list

the publisher?

Does it offer limited

advertising?

Does it present
information
objectively?

Is the page current?

Is it updated?

Are the links up-to-date?

Does it contain
dead links?

FINAL EVALUATION:
Is the webpage valuable
and credible?

References

Empowerment Technologies First Edition (2016). Sampaloc Manila:Rex Bookstore,

Inc.

Tarun, I. M. (2016). Empowerment Technologies. Plaridel, Bulacan: St. Andres

Publishing House.)https://www.academia.edu/36905646/Lesson_3
Contextualized Online Search and Research Skills

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