Conducting Online Research How to locate & evaluate digital resources

Are you an effective online researcher? Many people know a lot about technology, but NOT a lot about online research.

Am I an efficient researcher? Considerations: Am I using the best source? What do I know about Internet research? I think you know how to place the words in the fields Some of you know what we are talking about-- we are teaching kids and we need to use the same terms.

Internet Research Involves: Search engines (Google, Yahoo!, Bing) Gathering information Website Evaluation– treasure or trash? Crediting sources (avoiding plagiarism) Organizing Synthesizing info (putting it together) Presenting what you have learned

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Keyword searching Powerful if done correctly. Very fast. Used with search engine. Keyword searching Often is the only searching option and requires skill to search.

Keywords Example: Keywords: You must provide a word or set of words that will enable a computer to find matches, or “hits”. Example: What are the effects, if any, of television violence on children? Keywords: effects television violence children You need to help the computer search better to get the results you want.

Phrase Searching VERY USEFUL searching TIP! Using quotation marks “two words” tell the computer to look for two or more words together: “television violence” “Red River Valley” “Red River Valley of the North” The results will only include pages with the same words in the same order as what's inside the quotes.

Remove words Connect words When you use a dash before a word or site, it excludes results that include that word or site. This is useful for words with multiple meanings, like Jaguar the car brand and jaguar the animal. Examples: jaguar speed -car and pandas -site:wikipedia.org Connect words When the dash is in between multiple words, Google will know the words are strongly connected. Example: Nike-Greek goddess

Operators Search operators are words that can be added to searches to help narrow down the results. You can also use the Advanced Search page to create these searches. site: Get results from certain sites or domains. For example, you can find all mentions of "olympics" on the NBC website or any specific website like .edu, .gov, .org Examples: olympics site:nbc.com OR olympics site:.gov OR If you want to search for pages that may have just one of several words, include OR (capitalized) between the words. Without the OR, your results would typically show only pages that match both terms. Example: world cup location 2014 OR 2018

Search String  A search string is one word or a string of words that you ask a Search Engine to use so it can find that specific piece of information online. Some Search String Strategies... What it does... chocolate chips Searches for websites that contain either chocolate or chips. +chocolate+chips Searches for websites that contain both words. Be sure there is no space between the plus sign and the word. "chocolate chips" Searches for websites that have both words, found right next to each other.  "chocolate chips"-cookies Searches for websites that contain the phrase "chocolate chips" but do not contain the word "cookies".  

But – I found it on the Internet!! or

Why evaluate web sources? Virtually any person can publish almost anything on the Internet. Unlike most print sources, web sources do not have to be professionally accepted and edited to be published. Activity: The facilitator might ask students why it is important to evaluate web sources. The answers offered on this slide highlight the importance of web source evaluation. . Key Concepts: Books and journal articles generally go through a long process of fact-checking, editing, and revising before being published. However, anyone with a computer and Internet access can post a web site. Just because the information is published online, it does not mean it is true or reliable. The facilitator may note that web sites change frequently and sometimes disappear quickly. Thinking about evaluation within the search process can help to make web browsing efficient and effective. Click the mouse after the title question.

Evaluating the URL .gov is hosted by a U.S. government agency .com is for profit business, personal sites .edu is educational organization .org is nonprofit organization .net is hosted by a network .biz is a business site (newer than .com) .ac is an academic organization (outside U.S.)

Try the C.R.A.A.P. Method C – Currency R – Relevancy A – Authority A – Accuracy P – Purpose

CRAAP Test

Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus C – footer tells us the site was created in 1998 and last updated Feb 2013. Links are functional, but some lead to silly places or the authors blog. R – audience appears to be adults interested in preserving endangered species; the presence of an online store selling merchandise gives it the appearance of an organization. A – author is Lyle Zapato, whose name links to a personal website with no scientific credentials; it is clearly stated that "the site is not associated with any school or educational organization"; only contact info is the author's blog A – most sources from this site link back to the author's blog, and many of the others lead to .net, .org, or .com websites written in the same tone P – the content makes it clear the website exists to entertain

RYT Hospital C – the latest copyright date, as well as the latest update from the President and CEO are dated 2013; some of the links are not functioning. R – the content appears to be written for potential patients. A – the website relies on its self-proclaimed research hospital status as its authority; it is affiliated with a medical school that, according to Google, doesn't exist; and the only contact information is an address that Google Maps cannot find, and an online form that doesn't state to whom it is sent. A – though it appears unbiased with accurate spelling and grammar, all the information about the hospital, its staff and its research is stated w/out references. P – the site's purpose appears to highlight its so-called medical breakthroughs, but the content reveals this site to be an entertaining hoa.