Web Safety

"How many versions of the truth are you looking for? Too often students accept information that looks authentic as the truth and this is one of the dangers of Web site information. Since ANYONE can publish on the Internet, learning how to validate information is an important skill.

One of the most expedient ways to validate a Web site is to look for clues in the Web address or URL. Knowing how to recognise bits of information in the URL can provide information about a site, its publisher and its relationship to other sites. We call this the Grammar of the Internet."  by Alan November
CAN YOU PASS THE INTERNET LITERACY QUIZ?

I. Information Literacy Quiz
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How much do you know about information literacy? Take the following quiz to see if you are Somewhat Savvy (0-5 points), Moderately Savvy (6-10 points) or Downright Nerdy (10+ points)
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1. List 4 major search engines and a major directory.
2. What is a blog?

3. Why might you use quotation marks when conducting a search?
4. URL is an acronym for…

5. Identify three Boolean search terms.
6. How do you find the owner or publisher of a Web site?

7. Identify these extensions and what they represent:
.org     .com
.sch      .k12

.edu     .gov

.ac      .net

.mil     .co

8. How do you find out who is linked to your school’s Web site?

9. What clues in a Web address might indicate you are on a personal Web site?

10. Search terms are available for purchase on the Internet. How would you find out how much the phrase “global warming” is worth?

11. How would you conduct a search for the following: a list of Web sites of all the academic institutions in South Africa? (Hint: South Africa’s country code is .za)

12. How do you find the history of any given Web site?

13. How would you conduct a search for the following: US higher education Web sites that contain the word turtle?

14. How do sites get to the top of a result list in Google?  

Click Here for the Answers