Effective Information Retrieval from the Internet

Book excerpt: Effective Information Retrieval from the Internet discusses practical strategies which enable the advanced web user to locate information effectively and to form a precise evaluation of the accuracy of that information. Although the book provides a brief but thorough review of the technologies which are available for these purposes, most of the book concerns practical 'future-proof' techniques which are independent of changes in the tools available. For example, the book covers: how to retrieve salient information quickly; how to remove or compensate for bias; and tuition of novice Internet users. - Importantly, the book enables readers to develop strategies which will continue to be useful despite the rapidly-evolving state of the Internet and Internet technologies - it is not about technological tricks - Enables readers to be aware of and compensate for bias and errors which are ubiquitous on the Internet - Provides contemporary information on the deficiencies in web skills of novice users as well as practical techniques for teaching such users