I plan on getting together with Melanie again to give another demonstration of the resources where I located Jennifer. I will also show her my completed blog. We plan on going to her town library to do this, so Melanie finds out where the computers are at her library. This will also give Melanie more practice in computer literacy.
I am also going to give Melanie printouts of the pages from different Web sites detailing how I searched for Jennifer. I think she will especially like the Web page from MySpace, which has her daughter's picture on it. This will help her recognize Jennifer at the airport when she goes to visit her in June.
Monday, May 7, 2007
Sunday, May 6, 2007
In closing...
This was a fun project to work on. I hope anyone reading the blog has gained valuable information about the most efficient, accurate, low-cost ways to locate someone.
Happy reunions!
Happy reunions!
What have I learned?
I have learned about numerous low-cost resources for locating someone on the Internet.
I have learned that there are shortcomings to many of the people-search sites.
I have also learned that simple, "unprofessional" resources--such as MySpace--can work better than some people-search sites that advertise themselves as being a high-tech way to find anyone, anywhere.
Yahoo's free e-mail finder and MySpace were the resources that would have enabled me to contact Jennifer completely for free. However, the venue through which I did actually find her, Classmates.com, did not cost that much (about $9 total for a 3-month "gold membership" that lets me send messages through the site).
I have also learned that you have to be wary of using your credit card on these sites (as well as other types of sites) if you do not want your address (your billing address, anyway) to appear on people-finder sites.
Also, people should know that if they are listed in the phonebook, their address and phone number will be not only in the phone directory, but all over the Internet.
I have learned that there are shortcomings to many of the people-search sites.
I have also learned that simple, "unprofessional" resources--such as MySpace--can work better than some people-search sites that advertise themselves as being a high-tech way to find anyone, anywhere.
Yahoo's free e-mail finder and MySpace were the resources that would have enabled me to contact Jennifer completely for free. However, the venue through which I did actually find her, Classmates.com, did not cost that much (about $9 total for a 3-month "gold membership" that lets me send messages through the site).
I have also learned that you have to be wary of using your credit card on these sites (as well as other types of sites) if you do not want your address (your billing address, anyway) to appear on people-finder sites.
Also, people should know that if they are listed in the phonebook, their address and phone number will be not only in the phone directory, but all over the Internet.
What would I have done differently?
The only thing I would have done differently would be to search totally free resources first, before I went to the ones you had to pay for.
In this case, MySpace and Yahoo People Search e-mail finder would have worked and been a completely free way to contact Jennifer.
In this case, MySpace and Yahoo People Search e-mail finder would have worked and been a completely free way to contact Jennifer.
What works? What doesn't?
Most of the resources I examined worked to some degree.
However, all the sites I checked out that were dedicated to finding someone did not have Jennifer's most recent address, as she moved within the past six months and is not listed. The information on these sites may not be current if the person is unlisted, has not been involved in a court case or civil matter, and their current information has not been "leaked" to the site's database through their credit card or some other way.
I will take the consumer guide's recommendation for their top three people-finding sites, as their testers found far more current, accurate results through these sites : Net Detective; Reverse-Records; and CourtRecords.
I also learned that common Web gathering sites such as Classmates.com and MySpace work, in this case, more effectively than the people-search sites I did searches on.
Another simple search technique that worked was searching for Jennifer's e-mail address on Yahoo's People Search e-mail finder. This would have been a totally free way to get in touch with Jennifer and is also a direct piece of contact information (unlike with Classmates or MySpace, which, although allowing you to send messages through their systems, do not reveal the person's e-mail address).
However, all the sites I checked out that were dedicated to finding someone did not have Jennifer's most recent address, as she moved within the past six months and is not listed. The information on these sites may not be current if the person is unlisted, has not been involved in a court case or civil matter, and their current information has not been "leaked" to the site's database through their credit card or some other way.
I will take the consumer guide's recommendation for their top three people-finding sites, as their testers found far more current, accurate results through these sites : Net Detective; Reverse-Records; and CourtRecords.
I also learned that common Web gathering sites such as Classmates.com and MySpace work, in this case, more effectively than the people-search sites I did searches on.
Another simple search technique that worked was searching for Jennifer's e-mail address on Yahoo's People Search e-mail finder. This would have been a totally free way to get in touch with Jennifer and is also a direct piece of contact information (unlike with Classmates or MySpace, which, although allowing you to send messages through their systems, do not reveal the person's e-mail address).
Other Web gathering spots: MySpace, FaceBook
Other Web "gathering spots":
Since I found Jennifer not through a people-search site, but through a Web "gathering place," I wanted to mention a couple of other such gathering places. These sites, like Classmates.com, allow you to communicate through their system but do not reveal people's e-mail addresses or other direct contact information (unless, of course, the person posts it on their site themselves). Unlike Classmates.com, you can communicate for free through these sites:
My Space (www.myspace.com): Anyone can join MySpace and set up a homepage on it. Both people and "organizations" (mainly bands) have pages. You can search for someone by name and location.
I searched for Jennifer's name within a hundred mile radius of Tampa (since this is the original location we had for her), and it looks like I found her again! Her last name is not on the Web page, but this person is the same age as Melanie's daughter and lives in Sarasota, where we found out Jennifer lives now. She has a picture on the site and looks a little like Melanie, so I'm pretty sure it's her.
I wish I had tried to contact her through MySpace first, since it would have been totally free to do so.
FaceBook (www.facebook.com): This site is similar to MySpace, except it consists of a variety of networks grouped by high school, college, workplace, or religion. It is also free to communicate with people through FaceBook, unlike Classmates.com. However, I was unable to locate Jennifer on this site.
Since I found Jennifer not through a people-search site, but through a Web "gathering place," I wanted to mention a couple of other such gathering places. These sites, like Classmates.com, allow you to communicate through their system but do not reveal people's e-mail addresses or other direct contact information (unless, of course, the person posts it on their site themselves). Unlike Classmates.com, you can communicate for free through these sites:
My Space (www.myspace.com): Anyone can join MySpace and set up a homepage on it. Both people and "organizations" (mainly bands) have pages. You can search for someone by name and location.
I searched for Jennifer's name within a hundred mile radius of Tampa (since this is the original location we had for her), and it looks like I found her again! Her last name is not on the Web page, but this person is the same age as Melanie's daughter and lives in Sarasota, where we found out Jennifer lives now. She has a picture on the site and looks a little like Melanie, so I'm pretty sure it's her.
I wish I had tried to contact her through MySpace first, since it would have been totally free to do so.
FaceBook (www.facebook.com): This site is similar to MySpace, except it consists of a variety of networks grouped by high school, college, workplace, or religion. It is also free to communicate with people through FaceBook, unlike Classmates.com. However, I was unable to locate Jennifer on this site.
What were student experiences and evaluations during the whole process?
I learned that it is quite easy to find information about people on the Internet. However, I learned that if the person is not currently listed in the phone book, it is harder to get their current address. I was somewhat alarmed by some of the information that is available online. Some things I was alarmed about were:
- Many of these sites also brought up the person's relatives and neighbors
- At least one site advertised that they retrieved social security numbers and adoption records
- These sites will take your credit card number when you pay to search for someone and then add your billing address to their database and sell it to other people-search sites. However, this does help keep their databases accurate and might help you locate someone, so I guess I have mixed feelings about this practice
- Many people-search sites will often not bring up the person's current contact information if they are not listed in the phone book, haven't used their credit card to purchase anything on the Web recently (see bullet above), and have not recently been involved in a court case or legal transaction. According to the consumer guide, this is the case even if you have paid for a more advanced search. So, buyer beware!
I was happy to run across the Consumer Guide that ranked the Web sites. They pointed out how many people-search sites are no better than the white pages. I also appreciate their recommendations of three of the top search sites.
I also learned that sites that are not specifically for finding someone's contact information can also be a good way (if not a more effective way) to locate someone. For instance, Classmates.com worked for me. MySpace also worked and would have been totally free. Although these sites do not give you the person's exact contact information, they still allow you to get in touch with the person.
I came across a number of resources, including that consumer guide, through links that were on other sites. So, through following the links, I learned more information.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Consumer report on people-find search engines
Consumer-Guide
FamilyFinder had a link to a consumer guide company called "Consumer-Guide.To," which had a report on online people finding services.
According to their investigation of these services, in which testers entered searches for people whose contact information they knew, many of these search sites came up with outdated information or information that could be found on the white pages for free.
The testers also found that after they paid for searches with their credit cards, their names and billing addresses appeared on just about every people-search site within days. Although this would be one method for these sites to add peoples' contact information to their databases, the researchers considered it a violation of privacy (although apparently a legal one). Anyway, just something to watch out for if you are paying for a search.
This Consumer Guide company picked three people and public records searchers s its favorites:
Net Detective (http://orders.hdpublishing.net/cgi-bin/shop.cgi?product=ND&offer=NDC4JV&affiliate=291361): This site specializes in locating people and doing background checks. According to the editors, this site maintains one of the largest investigative databases on the Web. This site is often used by private investigators and reporters. Almost every search the testers did came up with current, accurate results. It costs $29 for a three-year membership with a money-back guarantee.
Reverse-Records (www.reverse-records.org): This resource is ideal if you do not know the full name of the person you want to locate. All you need is the person's phone number (cell phone number will also work), email address, or license plate number. Any of this information will yield the person's full name, current address, and phone number. The cost is $29.95 for one year unlimited use, with a money-back guarantee.
CourtRecords (www.courtrecords.org): This service can be used for finding people and to do criminal/legal background checks. The testers ran background checks on individuals with known criminal records. In every case, this service correctly brought up their records. CourtRecords can also be used to find civil records, such as marriages and divorces. This service has most court records available for the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., and a limited database of court records for other countries. The cost for this service is also $29.95 for unlimited checks, with a money-back guarantee.
Thus, the cost of these sites is generally less than for the same information from some other sites. So, good quality doe not have to cost more.
FamilyFinder had a link to a consumer guide company called "Consumer-Guide.To," which had a report on online people finding services.
According to their investigation of these services, in which testers entered searches for people whose contact information they knew, many of these search sites came up with outdated information or information that could be found on the white pages for free.
The testers also found that after they paid for searches with their credit cards, their names and billing addresses appeared on just about every people-search site within days. Although this would be one method for these sites to add peoples' contact information to their databases, the researchers considered it a violation of privacy (although apparently a legal one). Anyway, just something to watch out for if you are paying for a search.
This Consumer Guide company picked three people and public records searchers s its favorites:
Net Detective (http://orders.hdpublishing.net/cgi-bin/shop.cgi?product=ND&offer=NDC4JV&affiliate=291361): This site specializes in locating people and doing background checks. According to the editors, this site maintains one of the largest investigative databases on the Web. This site is often used by private investigators and reporters. Almost every search the testers did came up with current, accurate results. It costs $29 for a three-year membership with a money-back guarantee.
Reverse-Records (www.reverse-records.org): This resource is ideal if you do not know the full name of the person you want to locate. All you need is the person's phone number (cell phone number will also work), email address, or license plate number. Any of this information will yield the person's full name, current address, and phone number. The cost is $29.95 for one year unlimited use, with a money-back guarantee.
CourtRecords (www.courtrecords.org): This service can be used for finding people and to do criminal/legal background checks. The testers ran background checks on individuals with known criminal records. In every case, this service correctly brought up their records. CourtRecords can also be used to find civil records, such as marriages and divorces. This service has most court records available for the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., and a limited database of court records for other countries. The cost for this service is also $29.95 for unlimited checks, with a money-back guarantee.
Thus, the cost of these sites is generally less than for the same information from some other sites. So, good quality doe not have to cost more.
Lots of other resources (most of which work the same)
PeopleFind.com has a link to Family Finder (http://www.familyfinder.com/). This resource is an index with links to many other people-finding Web sites. It also has links to sites for such topics as geneaology, finding a gravesite, and obtaining a birth certificate.
I clicked on their link for "Find a Person." This then had a link for free people-finding tools. This brought up a long list of sites, including the ones I already mentioned in the blog. Most of them worked similarly to the ones I found. The free information consisted of the person's last known city and state, their age, and possible relatives.
However, to get more in-depth information such as their street address, phone number, marital status, criminal record, and bankruptcies/tax liens, you had to pay a fee. For most of the sites, the fees were about the same--approximately $40-$50 for a fairly complete background check, with an additional $10-$20 for more in-depth information. Many of the sites also offered a record of just addresses and phone numbers for about $10 and a 24-hour pass to search certain databases for anyone for about $20. These sites all brought up basically the same information for Jennifer as the ones I already mentioned in the blog.
There were a few sites that were somewhat different, however:
DEX (http://www.dexonline.com/): This site basically an online phone book, with yellow pages, white pages, and government pages. It will bring up the street address and phone number of the person you're searching for for free--as long as they are listed in the phone book. I searched for Jennifer, Dex did not find her. The only search term you have to enter is the person's last name or at least their last initial. You can also enter their first name or initial, and as much of their address as you know.
Dex also has a reverse phone finder, where you enter the phone number. If it is a home phone number, it will give you the name and address of the person who is listed for that number. If it is a cell phone, it will tell you the town and state the cell phone number is registered and what wireless company it belongs to.
Public Database (www.publicdatabase.com): This site claims to have the most vast database of public records available online, from birth certificates to death certificates and everything in between. It claims to even find medical records, which I would think would be illegal under HIPAA guidelines. Other information the company claims to locate includes, to name a few, adoption information (which I also would think would be illegal), social security number search (again, not illegal?), immigration records, e-mail addresses, and grave-site location.
However, you cannot do any search for free on this site. You have to pay $34.95 for a standard two-year membership that lets you do 15 premium searches and $39.95 for a two-year membership that lets you do 25 premium searches. I am not sure what a premium search consists of. I clicked on their FAQ link to find out, but it was not working.
The site claims that they employ "expert searchers," but that they are not private investigators.
You have to be at least 18 years old to use the site. Another rule I thought was interesting is that you cannot belong to any local, state, or federal law enforcement agency to use the site.
Reunion.com: This site is similar to Classmates.com, except that it is for anyone wishing to reunite with someone, rather than just classmates. Just as on Classmates.com, you have to pay a small monthly fee in order to send and receive messages through the site. Reunion.com will send a message to your e-mail address alerting you when someone is trying to locate you or when it has found someone you are trying to locate. As on Classmates.com it will not reveal your personal e-mail address.
I clicked on their link for "Find a Person." This then had a link for free people-finding tools. This brought up a long list of sites, including the ones I already mentioned in the blog. Most of them worked similarly to the ones I found. The free information consisted of the person's last known city and state, their age, and possible relatives.
However, to get more in-depth information such as their street address, phone number, marital status, criminal record, and bankruptcies/tax liens, you had to pay a fee. For most of the sites, the fees were about the same--approximately $40-$50 for a fairly complete background check, with an additional $10-$20 for more in-depth information. Many of the sites also offered a record of just addresses and phone numbers for about $10 and a 24-hour pass to search certain databases for anyone for about $20. These sites all brought up basically the same information for Jennifer as the ones I already mentioned in the blog.
There were a few sites that were somewhat different, however:
DEX (http://www.dexonline.com/): This site basically an online phone book, with yellow pages, white pages, and government pages. It will bring up the street address and phone number of the person you're searching for for free--as long as they are listed in the phone book. I searched for Jennifer, Dex did not find her. The only search term you have to enter is the person's last name or at least their last initial. You can also enter their first name or initial, and as much of their address as you know.
Dex also has a reverse phone finder, where you enter the phone number. If it is a home phone number, it will give you the name and address of the person who is listed for that number. If it is a cell phone, it will tell you the town and state the cell phone number is registered and what wireless company it belongs to.
Public Database (www.publicdatabase.com): This site claims to have the most vast database of public records available online, from birth certificates to death certificates and everything in between. It claims to even find medical records, which I would think would be illegal under HIPAA guidelines. Other information the company claims to locate includes, to name a few, adoption information (which I also would think would be illegal), social security number search (again, not illegal?), immigration records, e-mail addresses, and grave-site location.
However, you cannot do any search for free on this site. You have to pay $34.95 for a standard two-year membership that lets you do 15 premium searches and $39.95 for a two-year membership that lets you do 25 premium searches. I am not sure what a premium search consists of. I clicked on their FAQ link to find out, but it was not working.
The site claims that they employ "expert searchers," but that they are not private investigators.
You have to be at least 18 years old to use the site. Another rule I thought was interesting is that you cannot belong to any local, state, or federal law enforcement agency to use the site.
Reunion.com: This site is similar to Classmates.com, except that it is for anyone wishing to reunite with someone, rather than just classmates. Just as on Classmates.com, you have to pay a small monthly fee in order to send and receive messages through the site. Reunion.com will send a message to your e-mail address alerting you when someone is trying to locate you or when it has found someone you are trying to locate. As on Classmates.com it will not reveal your personal e-mail address.
PeopleSearch/PeopleFinders
PeopleSearch:
I decided to try out more resources before I close my blog. I saw a people-finding tool called PeopleSearch (www.peoplesearch.com) advertised on the Web. PeopleSearch is more geared to business needs, e.g., background checks, pre-employment screening, and detailed reports on both U.S. and foreign companies. PeopleSearch offers a Family Finding tool that is geared toward attorney's needs, such as for the purposes of wills/inheritances, to collect child support, etc. However, it appears non-attorneys are permitted to use this tool also. Through this tool, you can search for a missing child, ex-spouse, or parent of a child. This resource would have come in handy in tracking down Sam after he illegally took Jennifer out of New Jersey.
You have to fill out a form stating why you want the information. You are not permitted to use the information for a news story, to locate individuals involved in adoption, to locate celebrities or government officials (unless, presumably, you are related to them), to search for friends/acquaintances, or to cause physical or emotional harm. Employees at PeopleSearch.com will then search for the person.
Most of the business-related people-search resources at PeopleSearch.com cost in the range of $50 to $150, but they promise very precise, current results. For most of their services, you do not have to pay the full amount unless they pinpoint extensive, current contact information.
(Detailed reports on companies cost between $250 to $2250.)
For those wanting a simple, non-business-related people search, PeopleSearch.com has you fill in search windows for the person's first name, last name, and state, then enter. It then connects you to another site, PeopleFinders (www.PeopleFinders.com).
PeopleFinders:
When you are connected to PeopleFinders, it shows you basic information about the person that most fits your search terms. Sure enough, it was Melanie's daughter. I could tell it was her, because it listed her age, middle initial, and relatives (with their ages), including Sam. It listed her most recent city and state as Cape Coral, Florida, which, again, is not where Jennifer lives right now. It also lists other people by the name you searched for down below. If you do not think any of the people the system has brought up are the person you are looking for, PeopleFinder provides a form where you can enter the person's age and last-known city, as well.
I searched for other people, including myself, as well. The results were generally accurate, although it did not have my most recent address (which I moved to in January), and it listed my mother as being nine years younger than I am!
PeopleFinders works like Zaba Search and Intelius in that it automatically combs its database of public records. The information provided was basically the same that Zaba Search and Intelius provided. Like Intelius, PeopleFinder offers advanced searches for a fee to reveal more specific and varied information:
For $39.95 it will do a "complete background check," which will list the person's street addresses for the past 20 years, phone numbers, bakruptcies, tax liens, marriages and divorces, DEA [Drug Enforcement Agency?] registrants, and Web site ownership.
It offers a criminal report for an additional $20 and a business check for corporate violations/ficticious business names, etc. for another $20.
However, for only $9.95 you can search just for the person's street address history, names/aliases, and date of birth.
You can also purchase a 24-hour pass for $19.95 which will allow you to search for any person you want in certain databases, namely People, Real Property, Death, Divorce, and Marriage.
These prices and services were comparable to the other search sites I found, such as Intelius.
I decided to try out more resources before I close my blog. I saw a people-finding tool called PeopleSearch (www.peoplesearch.com) advertised on the Web. PeopleSearch is more geared to business needs, e.g., background checks, pre-employment screening, and detailed reports on both U.S. and foreign companies. PeopleSearch offers a Family Finding tool that is geared toward attorney's needs, such as for the purposes of wills/inheritances, to collect child support, etc. However, it appears non-attorneys are permitted to use this tool also. Through this tool, you can search for a missing child, ex-spouse, or parent of a child. This resource would have come in handy in tracking down Sam after he illegally took Jennifer out of New Jersey.
You have to fill out a form stating why you want the information. You are not permitted to use the information for a news story, to locate individuals involved in adoption, to locate celebrities or government officials (unless, presumably, you are related to them), to search for friends/acquaintances, or to cause physical or emotional harm. Employees at PeopleSearch.com will then search for the person.
Most of the business-related people-search resources at PeopleSearch.com cost in the range of $50 to $150, but they promise very precise, current results. For most of their services, you do not have to pay the full amount unless they pinpoint extensive, current contact information.
(Detailed reports on companies cost between $250 to $2250.)
For those wanting a simple, non-business-related people search, PeopleSearch.com has you fill in search windows for the person's first name, last name, and state, then enter. It then connects you to another site, PeopleFinders (www.PeopleFinders.com).
PeopleFinders:
When you are connected to PeopleFinders, it shows you basic information about the person that most fits your search terms. Sure enough, it was Melanie's daughter. I could tell it was her, because it listed her age, middle initial, and relatives (with their ages), including Sam. It listed her most recent city and state as Cape Coral, Florida, which, again, is not where Jennifer lives right now. It also lists other people by the name you searched for down below. If you do not think any of the people the system has brought up are the person you are looking for, PeopleFinder provides a form where you can enter the person's age and last-known city, as well.
I searched for other people, including myself, as well. The results were generally accurate, although it did not have my most recent address (which I moved to in January), and it listed my mother as being nine years younger than I am!
PeopleFinders works like Zaba Search and Intelius in that it automatically combs its database of public records. The information provided was basically the same that Zaba Search and Intelius provided. Like Intelius, PeopleFinder offers advanced searches for a fee to reveal more specific and varied information:
For $39.95 it will do a "complete background check," which will list the person's street addresses for the past 20 years, phone numbers, bakruptcies, tax liens, marriages and divorces, DEA [Drug Enforcement Agency?] registrants, and Web site ownership.
It offers a criminal report for an additional $20 and a business check for corporate violations/ficticious business names, etc. for another $20.
However, for only $9.95 you can search just for the person's street address history, names/aliases, and date of birth.
You can also purchase a 24-hour pass for $19.95 which will allow you to search for any person you want in certain databases, namely People, Real Property, Death, Divorce, and Marriage.
These prices and services were comparable to the other search sites I found, such as Intelius.
Fruitful alternatives (cont.): Yahoo e-mail search
It turns out the Yahoo e-mail address that I located through Yahoo People Search does belong to Melanie's daughter. So, this would have been a free way for Melanie to directly contact Jennifer.
In retrospect, this resource would have been the best alternative, as it was free and specifically provided a piece of contact information for Jennifer (her e-mail address).
In retrospect, this resource would have been the best alternative, as it was free and specifically provided a piece of contact information for Jennifer (her e-mail address).
User evaluation; resulting changes
User Evaluation:
Melanie was thrilled with the job I did. In fact, she wants to throw me a party for reuniting her with her daughter.
She did not have any complaints. She did not exactly have any changes in her information needs. The specific information she wanted progressed, however. As we answered some questions, Melanie wanted the answers to more:
For instance, when I first located Jennifer on Classmates.com, Melanie was asking me for information that was not posted on Classmates and was not mentioned in Jennifer's e-mails she sent through Classmates. Information we still did not have after that initial contact was what Jennifer's contact information was. Melanie was also speculating on what Jennifer's attitude toward her would be after all these years, wondering what Sam had told Jennifer about her, and wondering about details of Jennifer's and Sam's lives in the past and present. I could only tell her what Jennifer's messages said.
It was when Melanie spoke to Jennifer by phone that she filled in these gaps in her information. I also (after the fact) found partial answers through other Web resources, as I noted in other posts.
Resulting Changes:
So, the main resulting change that took place after initially finding Jennifer was that our search focused on filling in remaining information gaps about Jennifer. The nature of my assignment changed from strictly trying to locate Jennifer to comparing different people-search sites on the Internet. Another goal that emerged was to help Melanie become more computer literate.
Melanie was thrilled with the job I did. In fact, she wants to throw me a party for reuniting her with her daughter.
She did not have any complaints. She did not exactly have any changes in her information needs. The specific information she wanted progressed, however. As we answered some questions, Melanie wanted the answers to more:
For instance, when I first located Jennifer on Classmates.com, Melanie was asking me for information that was not posted on Classmates and was not mentioned in Jennifer's e-mails she sent through Classmates. Information we still did not have after that initial contact was what Jennifer's contact information was. Melanie was also speculating on what Jennifer's attitude toward her would be after all these years, wondering what Sam had told Jennifer about her, and wondering about details of Jennifer's and Sam's lives in the past and present. I could only tell her what Jennifer's messages said.
It was when Melanie spoke to Jennifer by phone that she filled in these gaps in her information. I also (after the fact) found partial answers through other Web resources, as I noted in other posts.
Resulting Changes:
So, the main resulting change that took place after initially finding Jennifer was that our search focused on filling in remaining information gaps about Jennifer. The nature of my assignment changed from strictly trying to locate Jennifer to comparing different people-search sites on the Internet. Another goal that emerged was to help Melanie become more computer literate.
Consideration of modes of presentation of results
I informed Melanie of the results I got, as I got them, by phone. I have also gotten together with her in person two times, with my laptop in tow. I showed her on the computer how to access all the sites I came across and let her read the messages from Jennifer herself. I also showed her how e-mail works, and she set up her own e-mail account on Yahoo. First I typed in the information while she watched. Then I had her practice accessing the Web sites herself. Melanie plans to go to the library to use the computers there.
Melanie needed to be walked through these processes--e.g., where to type in the URL for a Web site--as she was not computer literate at all. So, I decided bringing the computer over and demonstrating my searches was the best way to show her the results as well as make her more computer literate.
Melanie needed to be walked through these processes--e.g., where to type in the URL for a Web site--as she was not computer literate at all. So, I decided bringing the computer over and demonstrating my searches was the best way to show her the results as well as make her more computer literate.
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