a guide

Define your goal What are you looking for?

Think of search terms Think of as many terms as you can that are the same or related. Start general with several keywords. Try new combinations. Use more precise, or even natural language.

The Internet is Not Always the Best Place to Start Should you start this research project by using the internet? Databases (NC WiseOwl!) may help you find what you’re seeking far faster.

When you do use the internet… …a search engine may not be the best place to start. The best researchers have favorite websites that they either navigate to directly or click on when they see them in a search. Here is how you can develop a list of favorite sites of your own: Ask a librarian or teacher to recommend a list of web sites for you to search first (see Resources on the WebQuest!) There may be three to five web sites that cover your topic credibly and thoroughly, and you may save a lot of time by searching on those sites only. You can use the search box on those sites, or add their names, one at a time, to your keyword search on search engines. As you begin to learn the names of favorite sites on your own, bookmark them in your web browser, or save them to a bookmarking site such as delicious.com.

When Using Search Engines, Always Use More Than One Use several search engines on every search. Although major commercial search engines often return similar results, they work differently enough that you should use several search engines for every research project to help you uncover different resources. Try a meta-search engine, such as Zuula, which searches several search engines at the same time. SweetSearch – searches only 35,000 web sites that expert researchers have evaluated and approved. Don’t use it exclusively, though – vary what you use.

When Looking at Search Results, Dig Deep! The best search results are often not at the top – or even on the first page. Some web sites are very good at making their content rank high in search engines for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of their content. Look beyond the first few results, and even the first page. Dig deep!

Think Before You Search “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else.” – Yogi Berra Rewrite every assignment in your own words before you begin your research. This will force you to understand it, and make it much more likely that you’ll be able to identify what is helpful when you see it. If you need help, ask your teacher, librarian, parent or classmate for help. Then brainstorm and make a list of key search terms, using mostly nouns, rather than verbs. Create a series of terms that you can search in combinations of two, three or more. When you find a good search result, look at the most important words in it and add them to your keyword list. Try a series of keyword combinations. Keep track of the sources you review. Keeping track of sources will help you avoid repeatedly visiting the same bad sources and will also help properly cite every source you use.

Use Special Search Functions to Make the Search Engines Work for You Use a combination of several keywords (eagle example) Quotation marks are an excellent tool when you are looking for an exact phrase, particularly if one of the words is commonly used. Use AROUND: the words searched for will appear within (X) words of each other (you decide). Put both search terms in quotes, AROUND must be capitalized, and the number must be in parenthesis. Ex: “obama” AROUND(10) “australia”

Other Search Functions Use Boolean Logic! AND, OR, NOT. However, most search engines presume you mean “AND” when you put two words in a search; and “OR” can generate way too many irrelevant results if not used precisely. Use the search engine’s advanced search features.

Don’t Believe Everything You Read! Searching for information on the internet is like detective work. You have to be skeptical. You want to find the best information you can, rather than the first thing that “looks good” or “sounds good.” Anyone can publish anything on the internet, cheaply and quickly. Many search results you get will be either not credible or not entirely relevant. No one thing will tell you if a web site can be trusted. You must examine every aspect of a site to see if the information is credible, authoritative, objective, accurate and up-to-date. A good detective always verifies critical information by confirming it with multiple sources. If you find a few unrelated, credible web sites in agreement on an issue, your research may be done. This is not the case if you read something just once.

Are you looking at primary sources? Why not? The best research sources you can find online will be primary sources, such as newspaper and magazine accounts, letters, diaries, films, photographs and other documents written or recorded at the time of the event. A detective would think of them as “eyewitness accounts.” With primary sources, you won’t have to worry about information getting distorted from one interpretation to another.

Who created the web site and writes its articles? A good detective knows that information is only as good as its source. A good web researcher never decides to use information without considering who gave it to him. You would never trust a book without knowing its author and publisher; why would you trust a web site without the same information? When you find an article on a web site, visit the home page and the About us page to determine what the site is really about. If the site doesn’t list the name of the publisher and its management team – and this is often the case – then leave and visit another site.

Who created the web site and writes its articles? Also look for information about the publisher or author by searching their names in a search engine. Any credible publisher or author should be mentioned on other reputable web sites. When you find content on Wikipedia, do you know who wrote it? No, you don’t. Wikipedia’s contributors are anonymous; you do not know anything about them or their credentials. Wikipedia might be a place to do your “pre-research” to find keywords to search on, but not your main search.

Why did they write this? As a police detective would tell you, once you figure out who, next you have to figure out their motive. Is the site trying to sell you something? Does the site appear to have any social or political biases? Any of these factors can impact what information the site does and does not provide, and whether that information contains an unfair bias or a well-rounded overview of a topic. “Who created this web site and who is the author of the content I’m reading?”

Why did they write this? Also consider the advertisements on the site. If they are overwhelming and mixed in with the site content, you may find that the content is not trustworthy. Just as an infomercial on television is an advertisement disguised as information, some web sites create content that is only intended to sell a product.

When was the information written or last revised? As events unfold over hours, days and weeks, the stories often change a great deal. What a source says about a scientific discovery, about a living person, a way, a new technology or a lot of other things can quickly become untrue. Always check the date of your sources. If you can’t tell when a source was written, then keep looking until you find a good source about the topic that does have a recent date so you can see if anything has changed. Always use a news search engine to see if there are any new developments, do a web search with the current year as one of the search terms and use advanced search options to find recent results.

When was the information written or last revised? On the other hand, if you are writing about a historic topic, you should make sure to include primary source documents, such as newspaper and magazine accounts written at the time of the event. If an event occurred in July 1950, then sources written that month may offer a more accurate account of what occurred than a source written today.

Step One: Deciding Where to Search 1. The internet is not always the best place to start 2. When using search engines, always use more than one 3. When looking at search results, dig deep! Step Two: Planning Your Research 4. Think before you search! 5. Use special search functions to make the search engines work for you 6. Don’t believe everything you read! Step Three: Evaluating Your Search Results 7. Are you looking at primary sources? Why not? 8. Who created the web site and writes its article? 9. Why did they write this? 10. When was the information written or last revised?

Cite your sources 1. Author’s name, if available. 2. Title of Work 3. Title of Overall Website 4. Website Publisher/Sponsor 5. Date Posted/Published Day 6. Date Accessed 7. URL Use steps/resources/cm/mlacitationse to create citation in proper MLA format. steps/resources/cm/mlacitationse

Check this out! Many thanks to this site for most of the information included in this presentation! For more details on some of the steps, visit this site to learn more and become an even more effective web searcher!