The Pitfalls of Free Information on the Web


The pitfalkls of free information on the web

7 Things You Should Know about Searching the Web
How to find, evaluate, and apply information found on
the Web are important steps in the investigation process.
However, the average computer user believes that putting
search terms into Google is the primary skill necessary for
successful Internet research, but this is a common myth.

Despite an endless supply of material on the Web,
it is far easier to find faulty data than reliable information.

Search engine indexes are often months
behind in revealing recent data.

Contrary to popular belief, not everything
is available on the Web. There’s a tremendous
amount of superior content, known as the deep Web,
which is typically hidden from the Internet search public.

The deep Web is believed to be about 500 times the size of
the visible resources on the Web, yet the search engines,
don’t access the material, according to Bright planet’
s CEO Michael Bergman.

The number of search engines on the Web
is estimated to number 25,000.

Did you know?
If two people are seated side by side, on two
different computers and both are using matching
search terms for the same topic, they both will likely
get different answers because of algorithms used by
the search engines, according to a reference librarian.

References
The Deep Web: Surfacing Hidden Value
Bergman, Michael K. (2001).
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=jep;view=text;rgn=main;idno=3336451.0007.104

(2012)
The Deep Web: Surfacing Hidden Value
http://www.brightplanet.com/category/publications/