netTrekker's FAQs are designed to help you find answers to many of
your questions.
If not, please Contact
Us.
Website Criteria
All websites accessed by the netTrekker d.i. search engine have been
evaluated by educator/evaluators for academic integrity and age appropriateness.
- Authority/credibility
Authority or credibility refers to the source of the site and whether
that source has integrity, objectivity, and academic rigor. netTrekker
d.i. educators/evaluators use the following basic guidelines for
judging site authority (found at the University of Rochester Library
site):
- Can you identify the creator/author of the site? Is that person
an authority on the subject of the site?
- Who sponsors/publishes the site? Is the sponsor likely to be
reliable? (university, government agency, other credible source)
- Is the site unbiased, or if biased, is the bias acknowledged?
- Is the site designed to inform, rather than to entertain or
advertise?
- Is there a bibliography or other documentation for material
in the site?
- Has the site been updated, if necessary, to keep up with current
events?
- Is the site well organized and edited? Are language usage and
navigation clear?
- Comprehensiveness
Comprehensiveness refers to the breadth and depth of information
coverage of information presented in the site.
- Style
Style refers to the writing style and the "understandability" of
the information presented.
- Design
Design refers to the design and visual appeal of the site. This includes
whether text color and background color are compatible, as well as
general site appearance.
- Navigation
Navigation refers to the ease of use for student users moving about
the site.
- Relative Value
Value refers to how this site compares to other resources available.
- Controversial Information
Controversy is at the heart of all academic study and is a necessary
element in netTrekker d.i. Sites that deal with controversial subjects,
or which present controversial points of view are included, but their
evaluations are marked with 
to notify users before they access the site itself.
- Minimal Pop-Up Ads and Other Forms of Advertising
Pop-up ads, or spawning browser windows, are both annoying and distracting.
Although they are an economic reality for many good websites, netTrekker
d.i. makes every attempt to include only those sources that either
have no ads or, at the very least, have control over inappropriate
or obnoxious ads. For more information about netTrekker d.i.'s policy
on pop-up
ads, as well as information on how to block them, please click
here.
 "Evaluating and Citing Web Sites." University of Rochester
Libraries. University of Rochester. 10 November 2001. http://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?PAGE=439.
22 July 2002.
Wikipedia Sites in netTrekker
Wikipedia is an encyclopedia written by its users in over 200 languages.
Contributors collaboratively add and edit Wikipedia content for free
and open use by the global community. netTrekker values Wikipedia sites
for their breadth of coverage, ad-free content, multiple language inclusion,
and readability. Librarians' Internet Index (LII) lists Wikipedia as
an encyclopedia resource. American Library Association (ALA) lists
Wikipedia as one of the Best Free Reference Websites of 2005. We don’t
advise Wikipedia use as a single source authority, as we don't advise
that for any resource. Instead, we believe that with today's strong
emphasis on information literacy, teachers and librarians can equip
students for the task of using multiple sources to verify information.
While we see significant value in Wikipedia resources, netTrekker
is sensitive to the real and perceived vulnerability of Wikipedia resources
and the reluctance of some educators to allow their use. If you would
prefer not to have Wikipedia sites appear in your search result, we
offer two options for excluding them.
- You can remove Wikipedia content from your individual search result
by using the Refine Search feature. Click on Refine Search at the
top of any page (to the left of the Features toolbox) and select
the option to "Filter out Wikipedia websites."
- A netTrekker Administrator can filter Wikipedia content in Admin
Tools for all searches done by anyone within the school population.
Only people who have been designated as netTrekker Administrators
can use this process. To access Admin Tools, log in with your Administrative
username and click on Admin Tools in the My Tools box at the right
of any page. Click GO under netTrekker Settings, select "Filter out
Wikipedia sites," and click the Save Changes button. Keep in mind
that filtering out Wikipedia sites through Admin Tools removes them
from all search results for all users.
Order of Search Results
netTrekker orders search results based on a proprietary algorithm that
emphasizes relevance and quality. Relevance is determined primarily
by matching keywords, keyword phrases, and site placement taxonomies.
Ratings are an important factor in ordering results, but not the only
factor. In fact, at netTrekker and with most search engines, relevancy
is more important than rating. For example, if you search for "Anne
Boleyn" you certainly want to see websites specifically about her rather
than about Henry VIII (which would contain something about her) even
though the Henry VIII site might be rated higher.
"Dead" Websites
The Internet is a vast network (or web) of sites about virtually any
piece of information you might need. At any given time, hundreds of
brand new websites are created, and many older websites go "dead."
This pool of dead websites leads to common "page not found" errors
that can be very frustrating.
netTrekker d.i. has developed a sophisticated system to weed out these
dead websites from its database. This process involves both automation
and human review. Although it is impossible to guarantee perfection,
netTrekker d.i. places a very high priority on delivering quality results,
every time.
Occasionally, a user finds a site that has gone dead so recently that
our process hasn't caught it. If that happens, users can report the
site using the "Report a Problem" link found on each evaluation.
Submit a Website
New websites are created every minute. We value your assistance in
maintaining the most current database of educational websites. To send
us your new website suggestions, click the
suggestions
link at the bottom of the screen and follow the online instructions. You
will be asked to provide your name and email address so we can contact you
with additional questions.
Internet Safety
netTrekker has made every effort to ensure that it does not contain viruses.
However, there is still the possibility that a downloadable file could
become infected with a virus without our knowing it. For this reason,
we recommend that you set up security instructions within your
browser,
always use an anti-virus program, and check your school or educational
entity's specific Internet policies.
netTrekker has also made every effort to ensure that the websites within
our search engine are appropriate for students K-12. We indicate grade
appropriateness for sites to make it easier for users to select the
best sites for their age, skill levels, and needs.
Contacting netTrekker d.i.
Send netTrekker d.i. your comments, opinions, and overall suggestions
for improving netTrekker d.i. To email us, click on the
Contact
Us link at the bottom of the screen.
Please include your information so netTrekker d.i. can follow up on
any questions and suggestions.
Example of the Contact Form:
If you would like to speak to a netTrekker d.i. representative, please
call Customer Support toll-free at 1-877-517-1125.
How can I make sure netTrekker sites
aren't blocked by my filter?
If your filter is blocking netTrekker sites, you can make changes
that will solve the problem. The sites are being blocked based on
"established rules" in your content filter. Because each filtering
device is different, please check with your filter vendor on updating
the Content Filter to "white list" any site with a referrer from the
nettrekker.com domain. There should be an interface with the filter
that allows you to list the websites or referrer information for the
sites you want to allow. Update your filter to "white list" any site
with a referrer from the nettrekker.com domain to allow the next link
to pass. Schools must have the following four addresses allowed in
their school specific "Site Manage Filter":
If you would like to speak to a netTrekker representative, please call
Customer Support toll-free at 1-877-517-1125.
Image Copyright Disclaimer
Thinkronize locates and displays the thumbnail images, with links to these
images as a service to educators and students. It does not own copyrights
in these works, and cannot grant any license or permission to use the
images. These rights belong to the copyright owners. If the owner of a
copyrighted image wishes to have the thumbnail images removed, please
contact Thinkronize at
Contact Us.
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