Search Engine Clusty, and notes on Word Processing

This past week we've been able to write in Google.docs, using the word processing feature to write about the search engine Clusty.com I used for the first time, and I really like using it. I like it so much I shared it first with a kindergarten teacher, then talked about it with other staff members who then requested I share the site with them. So I emailed it to them. I'm going to ask them about their use of it in the future. (Part of my role of being a librarian is the sharing of information, and I use email to share - a lot!)

For those of you who haven't looked at it, I'd recommend you do so. After you've searched your topic, it arranges it in categories, letting you choose the category that fits your needs. It also allows you to set your own preferences. By that I mean you can determine how many searches you want per page, language, and adult preferences. Since it's a meta-crawler search engine, it also searches Google, Ask, Yahoo, Gigablast, and many, many others. I could retrieve what I wanted in no time at all. This is an educational search, and doesn't allow advertising through them. One has to go through Ask to see if they can add any advertising. They don't allow any commercialization, which is great, and neither do they track its users. They just want you to search. You can access the web, images, gov, shopping, etc., and set your own preferences for display. You can choose what language you want to search in, with the exception of Chinese. I noticed they're adding more, but they still haven't added Chinese, which was interesting to note. They also don't censor their information. You can turn on/off adult preferences, though. They also don't edit or screen the sites, articles, images, etc., which are linked to their site. If you haven't tried this one, by all means do!



When I used the web based word program with Google.docs, I liked the fact anyone can use it on the web. Any student has no excuse for not having a word program at home. Their problem might be not having a computer, or Internet access. That problem can be solved by going to the local public library, where there is free access. The program allowed me to do all of the same things I do in the Word program, as well as post comments, link it back to students, and connect links to other web sites. It also has a formatting font and paragraph feature, spell check, insert a video, image, and lets me preview before publishing. I can also email it to anyone I want. This feature of adding comments to papers, letting students have feedback before they print, can make a difference in the life of a tree!

I have students use their keyboarding skills in the library when searching for information. They can keep their notes in notepad or in word, and they write their citations in word, with my help. I also help them find Internet sources, books, periodicals, etc, with the help of the computer, so students need to know how to input the information, via a keyboard. Students also use the word processing program to write, file, store, retrieve, edit and revise their information for their reports. They use spell check as well, being informed that spell check is not the "final" answer, depending on the context of the sentence. Students also use the image insert menu, whether it's for scanned pictures, clip art, or images found on the web. I also copy some websites on Word, and post them in the common drive or on the library home page, for students to access for research.