Welcome to Study Hall! The Internet can be a great resource as long as you know how to use it. Here you will find tips for effective web research to help you get the most out of the Internet.
Maya
Cyber Defender & Databank Supervisor
Because of her unquenchable thirst for knowledge, Maya started out as a librarian. While she loved her job, she wanted to do more to help protect people.
Since Cyber Villains such as Ms. Information and Elvirus can corrupt websites and the information on them, Maya teaches people to protect themselves by using caution when visiting websites and avoiding sites that are not trustworthy.
Give me a fish and I eat for a day. Teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime
- Chinese Proverb
Anything chocolate
Interests:Browsing bookstores, baking
December 18 2007
Finding Reliable Sites: How Old is This?
A resource is a lot more likely to be useful if it is up-to-date. Sometimes old information can be incorrect, especially if it is related to current events.
When you're trying to determine if a Web site is reliable, try to find out when it was created and when it was last
updated. You can also check to see if all the links on the Web site still work. Broken links can mean that a site has not been updated in a long time.
posted by Maya
topic: Finding Reliable Sites
December 17 2007
Too Many Secrets
I've noticed a disturbing trend among the cadets. Outside of class it seems that everybody has been keeping to their rooms, chatting with online friends. While online friends are good, you shouldn't forget your real friends. Come out of your rooms sometime and join me for a game of chess in the Cafeteria.
posted by Maya
topic: Miscellaneous
December 11 2007
Scavenger Hunt
I asked Alexi to keep quiet about this until we were ready, but I guess the cat is out of the bag. Yes, I agreed to help Alexi transfer her scavenger hunt to the Web site. It is going to take some time to get a working version up, but look for it in the next few months.
posted by Maya
topic: Miscellaneous
December 5 2007
Recovering from the Attack
Many of us were shaken up by M.C. Spammer's attack, myself included. I want to let everyone know they can feel free come to me with their fears. Sometimes it helps just to talk.
I have the feeling that this is only the beginning. But I know, too, that we are stronger than whatever the Cyber Villains can throw at us.
posted by Maya
topic: Miscellaneous
December 4 2007
Research Tip: How Search Engines Work
Remember that paper I'm writing about the first three presidents of the United States? If I were going to do research at the library, I'd start by asking the librarian about the first three presidents. She would probably start with trusted resources that she's used before and then ask me some questions in return to better understand what I'm looking for.
However, search engines can't ask you questions to refine your search. They also can't rely on any past experiences to find good resources. It takes a little more planning to get the most out of using a search engine because they can't think about your search the way a person can.
Most search engines are crawler-based, which means that they "crawl" through Web sites looking for keywords. When you use a search engine, you enter in one or more keywords, and it returns a list of sites that it thinks are relevant for your search. It decides which sites to list based on a set of rules, such as how many times your keyword appears on the site or how high it is on the page, but it doesn't check to see how valid the information is. You have to check your search results very carefully to make sure they are useful.