|
|
Title:
Teaching Web Search Skills: Techniques and Strategies of Top Trainers
Review:
Offering the advice and wisdom of 11 top trainers from librarians to website owners and consultants to university lecturers, Greg Notess advises his readership how to approach and put into action a programme of Web search skills. He offers not only examples of good practice but also worked examples along with discussion of potential pitfalls that may be encountered along the way. Whilst the contributions of the 11 can be found throughout the text, Notess also has helpfully reproduced them in the final chapter, 'Anecdotes, Examples and Exercises', and has included full biographies, complete with contact details, in Appendix A.
After having provided a background of the development of the Internet and World Wide Web and a discussion of the way in which, for many librarians, it can be considered an extension of bibliographic and reference searching, Notess moves on to the essence of his text: how to teach search skills in the most effective style.
To begin he notes that it is important to realise that searching the Web has been designed to be easy - the so-called 'box and button' technique should provide the opportunity for even the most techno- phobic person to access the wealth of information potentially available.
However, many people need help. Notess writes that the student body is likely to fall into three specific groups: the novice, the know-it-all and the experienced user, regardless of the size of the group. For this reason he usefully presents a number of different ideas for styles of teaching. It is important to remember, he says, that when teaching Web searching, despite the basic 'box and button' approach there is a considerable variation between browsers. The trainer should never assume student knowledge. Notess then considers the benefits and drawbacks of the hands-on session and lecture with discussion.
Three chapters are dedicated to the specific content of tutorials, with plenty of useful advice and some interesting in-depth discussion. Notess' chapter on online tutorials considers the positive and negative aspects of this teaching method, and he gives advice as well as annotated examples of tutorials, including the Web addresses and platform details. Notess emphasises that trainers should view these before attempting to produce their own, as this can be a very time- consuming process. They also reflect the nature of the training, which can be general or specific, and this influences the style and length of training. Some of the recommendations Notess makes for those planning to create their own training materials are helpful. For example, he suggests providing the class with opportunities to achieve and define terminology from the outset.
Examples of handouts, webpages and worksheets are provided in Appendix B, whilst Appendix C lists all the websites that have been referred to throughout the book in a chapter-by-chapter list. This is also available on Notess' website at , where they are checked and updated. Readers are also invited to contact the author with suggestions of other useful sites or notification of dead links.
"Teaching Web Search Skills" is a highly accessible and very useful introduction to the process of teaching these skills to students of any age, background and ability. It could be used by teachers and academics to teach students in school or college, or by librarians and other information professionals to teach skills to library users and anyone whose job requires them to make good use of the resources available on the Internet. It should be invaluable to the novice, the know-it-all and the experienced trainer alike.
FreePint Reviewer:
Louise Ellis-Barrett is a solo librarian at Downsend School, a prep school in Surrey. When not immersed in children's books or review titles she enjoys reading travel writing and 'classic' novels, and collecting old and antiquarian books. As well as this she can often be heard practising her saxophone and clarinet, found in the garden, the theatre or cinema or practising her knitting and embroidery skills. She enjoys the outdoors, has set herself the challenge of learning Ancient Greek and hopes to one day tour the classical world!
Related Free Pint Links:
|
