Someone once noted that using the Internet is like trying to drink from a firehose. There is so much information and it is easy to "get lost" while "surfing".
To aid in the process, there are a number of "search engines" which you can use to try and locate specific information. I have found that the best way to learn about these engines is to try them out!
Several of my favorites are listed below. Pick one and try and locate the information needed to answer the questions that follow. In fact, try a couple of these and see if they locate the same resources.
Google
Ask Jeeves
HotBot
An Internet Scavenger Hunt will give you the chance to experiment with locating Internet resources. It is easy to get lost but remember that you can use the GO menu to return to a familiar place or the Back Arrow to return to the previous link.
When you use a search engine plan to spend a few minutes becoming familiar with the options. For example, in Hot Bot you can type in a phrase and specify that an exact match must be found. Or, you can ask for sources that contain all the words or any of the words. Careful selection of the phrase (or single word) can speed up the process.
Answer all of the following questions
"Would you like to climb Stromboli? Join the SOL-team on an trip to the summit! If you have never been there, This is the second best way of getting to know this great volcano (the best one is, of course, to actually go there :-) If you know Stromboli already you will recognize many places. Even so there will also be a few surprises :-)".
Virtual field trips are analogous to the business case histories that a business person studies. Take a few minutes and Virtually Climb Stromboli. What is the elevation at the top of Stromboli? Tell me if you enjoyed learning via a virtual field trip.
Each Internet chapter concludes with a virtual field trip chosen to illustrate some of the topics presented. It is up to you to decide how much time to spend with each of the available resources. If you enjoy traveling, the virutal field trips may prove to be a good way to learn.
It is important that you become a wise user of information gained from the Internet; of course this also applies to other sources as well. Who produced the page? Are they trying to sell you something or to convince you that their interpretation is the only possible way it could be?
This has been a very short introduction, but if you played the game then you should now know much more about using the Internet than you did when you started.
| jbutler@uh.edu
|E-mail the ClassListserv|Read the ClassListserv|
|Textbook Home Page
|Glossary of Geologic Terms|Search These Pages|
|Other Courses|Resources|Grade Book|
Return to the Physical Geology Home Page
Copyright by John C. Butler, July 29, 1995