Sunday 5 April 2009

Internet sources? Use GOOGLE in a more effective way!

Photo by Jeannie Kays taken from flickr.com
I didn't imagine how wide is Google Search. I've always used it in a very normal and "direct" way, writing inside the blank bar the words I needed. Well, Google offers many search tools. And more specific!!! Always about good sources, if you are looking for something particular, a book, for example, Google is available with its Book search. Or more. Are you looking for a Blog about the topic you are interested on? Google Blogs is the solution! And if you are looking for some specific texts (.pdf, .edu or others) you can use Google Scholar tool! During last week's lecture I only surfed on Google Books, and I found many interesting books about the topic given by our Professor Sarah Guth (personal learning environment). By clicking on a result link, you will explore some free pages of the book about that topic. Therefore, you will be able to think if that book could be useful for your search or not.
I think I will use all these tools for my next search on Internet.
You can do it as well!
Martina

3 comments:

  1. Hi Martina!
    Were you in Prof. Guth's class today? I know your blog and I am leaving you a message, but I don't remember if we have ever talked before face to face. Sorry for that! Besides, your photo up there it's kind of misteriuos one! I cannot make out your face..You get an effect of mistery!
    Anyway, I agree with you and also I think that with the new tools Prof. Guth gave us, it is now possible to look up for any topics in a more specific way as you said in your last post. I found many interesting books in Google Books me too, but I still need to practise my knowledge of all Google tools. However, useful tools for surfing in the Web but for studying.. a good book! I am happy you agree with me!
    See you soon
    Bye! Arianna

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  2. Hello Martina!
    I read our group's posts and I think we have more or less the same opinion. Computer tools, if used properly, are really useful. In particular Google scholar that I found very interesting. I was struck by the number of free resources you can find using it. I always thought that it was impossible to find authoritative sources on the Web. And now I understand that it was because I didn't know the right tools to use.
    One more thing. I think that in your last post you did some mistakes with the use of present perfect tense. You used it more than once instead of the simple past tense. I suggest you to follow the precious rule Professor Guth told us: don't use it! Or better, always use simple past and when you finish writing go back and re-read your text to see if everything is ok. I did it and it works. ;-) Let me know if you agree...
    Chiara

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  3. Hello Martina!
    Yes, you’re right: Google Books is a very useful tool! I used it recently to write an academic essay. I found the title of a book reading an article published on the Internet, I searched it on Google Books and voilĂ , I read the most interested pages on the screen of my pc! I agree with you, "real" books are more comfortable than Internet, but I think that if you have to use a book only once this kind of tools allows you to avoid buying a book that you probably won’t read again. For me, it’s like a sort of library!
    Byeee,
    Ilaria.

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