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EMPOWER - Module 6 - Searching the Internet

WWW Levels

The World Wide Web

●  Levels  ●

 

Picture of an iceberg. The portion above the water is labeled as surface, the portion underneath the surface of the water is labelled as deep, and the portion near the bottom of the iceberg is labelled as dark.

Surface Web

 

Openly Available   ●   Navigated With Search Engines  ●   ~4% of Internet
Like:
Google   ●   Yahoo   ●   Bing

Table listing strengths and weaknesses of the Surface web. Two of the surface web's strengths are that its sources are likely to hold updated information and that it is comprised of billions of webpages. Two of the surface web's weaknesses are that it is not reliably reviewed for inaccuracy or bias, and that its webpages are disorganized.

Deep Web

 
Not Indexed by Search Engines

Password-Protected   ●   Unlinked   ●   Dynamic   ●   Non-HTML/text

 
Includes:

Library Catalog   ●   Library Databases   ●   Personal Email Accounts

Table listed strengths and weakness of the deep web. Three strengths of the deep web are that the Peru State College Library pays for student access to databases in the deep web, it is reviewed for inaccuracy and bias, and it is very organized. Three weaknesses of the deep web are that it is often blocked with paywalls or other permissions, it is less up to date than the surface web, and it has limited information available for fast paced fields.

Dark Web

 

Illegal Media and Activities    ●    Not Easily Accessed

Peru State College Library
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