RESOURCE CENTRE MANUAL
HEALTHLINK WORLDWIDE
Some search engines are also known as search directories. A search directory is
organised into subject areas, allowing you to search just those sites related to a
specific subject, rather than the whole web. Often, the sites included within the
directory have been assessed and selected by subject specialists; sometimes this is a
service that larger organisations pay for. Using a search directory can produce
more accurate results. Of those listed above, Yahoo and MSN Search are
directories.
There are also multiple search engines, sometimes known as ‘meta’ search
engines, which search across a number of search engines at the same time. This
can save you time, however, a meta search engine can only use those search
features that all of the search engines it covers have in common and therefore
only perform the most basic kind of search. Meta search engines are particularly
useful for broad and shallow searches, for assessing keywords quickly, and for
getting familiar with the individual search engines that they cover. Examples are:
Flipper
Ithaki
Metacrawler
Fazzle
Vivisimo
http://www.flipper.com
http://www.ithaki.net/indexu.htm
http://www.metacrawler.com
http://www.fazzle.com
http://vivisimo.com
6.7.2 How to evaluate information on the web
There is a vast amount of information available on the web from all kinds of
sources. Anyone can put a document on the web, unlike printed material, which
has usually been edited or reviewed. It is sometimes difficult to know how
accurate or reliable information on the web is. You need to consider:
• Who has provided the information? Do you or others within that field know
of them? Are they known to be accurate, reliable and professional?
• Who has the information been provided for? Are the content and language
appropriate for the audience?
• Are sources and references given? If claims and statistics are presented, are
the sources reliable? Is there a bias present, and if so, is it stated?
• Is the site up to date?
• A clear guide to evaluating information found on the Internet is available at:
• http://www.library.jhu.edu/elp/useit/evaluate
• A number of other documents offering guidelines for evaluating various
information
• resources, particularly those on the web is available at:
http://www.vuw.ac.nz/~agsmith/evaln/evaln.htm
6.7.3 Internet databases
Increasingly, databases are becoming available free of charge on the Internet.
These databases can be less straightforward and accurate to search than CD-
ROM, though, they are becoming easier to use as Internet technology improves.
They also incur telephone costs and there is a risk of being disconnected if
SECTION 6: COMPUTERS, ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION AND DATABASES
19