Search Engines vs. Portals and Directories
Any teacher-librarian will tell you that search engines are a double-edged sword. They get instant results from keywords and strings but often an overwhelming and commercially-biased amount of them. Without human agency, mere algorithms can waste time, direction, and interest for students.
From the beginning of the Web, the library community continued to do for digital resources what they had done for print: create subject and topic guides to recommended resources. A typical (library) directory is a digital guide that gathers and categorizes websites and other other information for a specific audience (e.g., by interest, age, expertise). A portal is a more commercial or organizational directory that amasses vast amounts of related information (e.g., links, podcasts, blogs, wikis, images, videos etc.), all through a web gateway that makes searching and finding easier.
Both directories and portals open up relevant possibilities by narrowing less relevant ones. Quality, not quantity, is the name of the game. Browsing is a delicious pastime in these “cornucopia” sites!
Often search engines will return portals on the first page of a search as these have likely paid for placement. Because of traffic, more humble directories find their way close to the top as well. However, just as with the general reference sites from last week’s posting, a teacher and teacher-librarian should have favorite, curricular-related sites handy, for both the quick reference question and designing resources in lessons and units.
Reading Content and Structure
As a teacher-librarian, I spent time demonstrating both the content and structure of directories and portals. I found this “web-booktalking” paid off well in empowering my students with independent habits of inquiry and research. I made such in-depth analysis of multi-layered websites part of my digital reading program, discussing such issues as audience, purpose, organization, and interface effectiveness. Who says we don’t need teacher-librarians? Maybe just me!
As a teacher-librarian, I spent time demonstrating both the content and structure of directories and portals. I found this “web-booktalking” paid off well in empowering my students with independent habits of inquiry and research. I made such in-depth analysis of multi-layered websites part of my digital reading program, discussing such issues as audience, purpose, organization, and interface effectiveness. Who says we don’t need teacher-librarians? Maybe just me!
Favourites
Here then are some of my favorite portals and directories. They include celebrated websites by library institutions, governments, media groups, and dedicated individuals. Note that these sites have also been added in chart form to the Pages section of this blog.
Here then are some of my favorite portals and directories. They include celebrated websites by library institutions, governments, media groups, and dedicated individuals. Note that these sites have also been added in chart form to the Pages section of this blog.
- Awesome Library
- BBC Secondary Education
- Best Websites for Teaching and Learning from ALA
- Canadian Government Portal
- CBC Digital Archives For Teachers
- Digital Librarian (M.V. Anderson)
- Discovery Educator Network
- Everyday Life from St. Ambrose University Library
- Global SchoolNet
- Guide to Resources by Subject from University of Alberta
- Hot Sheet Web Directory
- Infomine Scholarly Resource Collection
- Internet Library for Librarians
- Internet Public Library
- Kathy Schlock’s Guide for Educators from Discovery Education
- Librarians' Resource Centre (Margaret Gross and Daniel Lee)
- United Kingdom Government Portal
- United Nations Portal
- USA Government Portal
- World Digital Library
- WWW Virtual Library
0 comments:
Post a Comment