Research
on the Internet The universe is full of
magical things,
patiently waiting for our wits
to grow sharper.
Eden Phillpotts
British 1862-1960 | | | How do I search the Internet? - Narrow your topic and its description; pull out key words and categories
- Use a search engine: does it contain a directory of topics?
Find the best combination of key words to locate information you need;
Enter these in the search engine - Get assistance from your local research librarian
- Refer to known, recommended, expert, or reviewed web sites
- Refer to professional portals
that may have directories or collections by topic - Review the number of options returned.
If there are too many web sites, add more keywords.
If there are too few options, narrow/delete some keywords,
or substitute other key words - Review the first pages returned:
If these are not helpful, review your key words for a better description - Use advanced search options in search engines:
Search options include - Key word combinations, including boolean strings
- Locations where key words are found
For example: in the title, 1st paragraphs, coded metadata - Languages to search in
- Sites containing media files (images, videos, MP3/music, ActiveX, JAVA, etc.)
- Dates web sites were created or updated
- Research using several search engines
Each search engine has a different database of web sites it searches
Some "Meta-Search" engines actually search other search engines!
If one search engine returns few web sites, another may return many! - Evaluate the content of the web sites you've found:
Refer to the Study Guide "Evaluating web site content" - Track your search:
List resources you checked; the date your checked them
Identify the resource, especially its location and the date you found it - When printing, set your options to print the
Title of the page | the Web address | the date printed
What are some resources? - Search engines
Search Engine Colossus has links to search engines from 148 countries - Directories that organize information and links
Open Directory Project; Librarians Index to the Internet; Infomine - Web sites devoted to particular topics, including text, graphics, movies, music files
Internet Directory for Botany - Government documents, forms, laws, policies, etc.
U.S. Government Printing Office disseminates official information from all three branches of the United States Federal Government - Services and information by
non-profit organizations and by for-profit businesses - LISTSERVs or discussion groups
See L-Soft "the official catalog of LISTSERV® lists" - Resources at your local (public) library
These may require membership or registration - Newspaper, journal, magazine databases
Often restricted to subscribers, require registration, or can be fee-based for access
International conventions of copyright govern the use and reproduction of all material: all information should be properly cited |
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