Sources of Information (Edexcel IGCSE Ict)
Exam board Pearson Edexcel · IGCSEUpdated 2024-06-14
Spec point —
3.9.1
Sources of information
What is a primary & secondary source?
- A primary source is is a source that you have created yourself
- A secondary source is a source that has been created by someone else
- Examples of primary and secondary sources include:
| Primary sources (your own) | Secondary sources |
|---|---|
| Sound recordings | Newspapers |
| Photographs | Books |
| Interviews/questionnaires | Television & radio broadcasts |
| Social media posts | Websites |
| Emails | CDs, DVDs or Blu-rays |
-
To select the most appropriate source of information, you must consider:
- It's fitness for purpose
- It's fitness for the intended audience
Using search engines effectively
Spec point —
3.9.3
What are search engines?
- Search engines are tools that locate and display web pages related to the search terms entered by the user
- They are essential for navigating the vast amount of information on the internet
- They index millions of web pages and use algorithms to rank the relevance of each page to the search terms
How do search engines work?
-
Search engines work in three stages:
- Crawling
- Indexing
- Ranking
-
Crawling is when web crawlers scour the internet daily to retrieve new websites
-
Indexing is how websites are categorised based on the content of their web pages, keywords and metadata
-
Ranking is how websites are ranked and listed on search engine pages - this depends on many factors to display the most relevant results
How can you use search engines effectively?
-
To use a search engine effectively you can make use of features such as:
- Keywords
- Search types
- Search tools
- Suggested sites & autofill
- Search syntax
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Keywords | - Used to identify relevant information |
| Search types | - Ways to refine your search, such as searching for: - images - news - location |
| Search tools | - Filters and sorting options to narrow down searches |
| Suggested sites & autofill | - Automatic suggestions that appear as you type to help users find things faster |
| Search syntax | - Rules that dictate how words and phrases are used in a search, e.g. - AND(+) only results that match both words - NOT(-) before a word will return results that do not include that word - Matching("") only displays results that include whole phrase |
Worked Example Describe two ways that a user can make effective use of a search engine to select information.
[4]
Answer
Two linked descriptions from:
- Use key words/terms (images/video/websites) [1] to return more relevant results [1]
- Filter by images/video/websites [1] to return appropriate file type [1]
- Filter date [1] to return more recent results [1]
- Use search syntax (+ - “”) [1] to ensure results include/exclude key terms [1]
- Filter by usage rights [1] to comply with copyright [1]
- Filter by colour/size [1] to return results that are more fit for purpose [1]
- Compare results [1] to look for accuracy / reliability / bias of results [1]
- Use different search engines [1] as they use different processes/algorithms [1]
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