Chapter 04 Researching and Using the Web

• Main Authors: Roy, Shambhavi, Daniel, Clinton, Agrawal, Manish
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Digital Commons @ University of South Florida 2023
• Subjects: digital information technologies; information technology; world wide web; searching; research; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/dit_tb_eng/6; https://doi.org/10.5038/QTMJ6337; https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/context/dit_tb_eng/article/1005/viewcontent/Ch_204_20Researching_20Web.pdf

Never in history have we had so much knowledge stored, organized, and ready to be consumed with the click of a mouse or the tap of a button. If we step back for a moment and think about what is available on the web, we will be amazed by the information close at hand, all thanks to computers and the Internet. You can find the score of any weekend football game, price of grain in Nebraska, weather in Antarctica, tide schedules in South Australia, and the outcome of an election in Britain by typing your question in any search engine. If you are so inclined, you could have someone explain to you the Theory of Relativity, how to lay a brick wall, how to plan a party, or how to edit genes. If you want to learn to play the piano, understand road regulations in Florida, or learn about mountaineering, you can do it all from the comfort of your couch. IT gives you more power in terms of access to knowledge than kings and emperors of yesteryears ever had. However, as with any powerful tool, you should know how to handle it with care and caution to avoid getting into trouble and not harm yourself or others. In this chapter, we will introduce some of the common sources of information online and evaluate their pros and cons.