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Conducting Online

Research

Effective Online Research Strategies

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Overview

For effective online research:

² know available search t ools

² understand how tools work

² know how to use tools ² evaluate results f ound with tools

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Online Research

Characteristics of the Internet:

² large volumes of information

² convenient

² doesn·t contain all information ² potentially frustrating

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Web versus Print: Web

Web

² anyone with web access can publish

² author/affiliations and qualifications may be

unclear ² may not clearly identify external information

² may be biased/misleading

² publication info may not be listed

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Web versus Print: Print

Print

² extensive publication process

² clearly indicates author/affiliations

² clearly marks outside sources/quotations ² bias exists, but is reviewed

² only qualified manuscripts accepted for publication

² publication info clearly listed

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Visible Web versus Invisible Web

Visible Web:content can be found using freely accessible search engines such as Google

Invisible Web:content not found by general search engines

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Invisible Web vs. Visible Web:

Practice

1. Write a topic on a piece of paper

2. Exchange it with a partner

3. Run one search in a general search engine such as

Google4. Run another search using a library research tool,

such as JSTO R, EBSCOHO ST, or Megasearch

5. Discuss the kinds of results each search turned up

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Web Search Tools

Search Engines

² list results based on entered keywords

Web Directories

² offer categories for users to choose from Metasearch Engines

² combine results from multiple search engines

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Search Engine Results

Based on:

² site·s amount of information

² number of linking sites

² number of people who choose a link ² length of time in search engine database

² code of the site

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Search Engine Results

Different search engines might return different results in a different order

Can include results from paying advertisers:

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Search Engine Results: Practice

1. Write a search topic on a piece of paper

2. Exchange the piece of paper with a partner

3. Enter the search term into three different search

engines.

4. Discuss the difference in results with your partner

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Conducting a Search

Consider:

² keywords that apply

² what kinds of information you need

² multiple angles ² keep notes

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Using Search Terms

Do multiple searches

Try keyword variations

² e.g. try ´dining hall,µ ´cafeteria,µ and ´campus

food serviceµ Be specific as you learn more

² e.g. change ´dining hallµ to ´Midwest university

dining hallµ

Boolean O perators: words added to a search to make it more specific

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Defining a Search: Boolean

Operators

AND

² finds pages with all of the search terms used

² e.g. ´dining hallµ AND ´student workersµ

O R

² finds pages with at least one of the search terms

² e.g. ´dining hallµ O R ´cafeteriaµ O R ´campus food serviceµ

NOT ² excludes pages that include the second term e.g.

Henry VII NOT Shakespeare

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Defining a Search: Quotation

Marks

Return pages with exact matches

² enter dining hall

Get: ´As I was dining, I heard a noise coming from the

hallµ

² enter ́ dining hallµ

Get: ´Dining hall food quality is assessed in this

paper .µ

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Search Terms: Practice

1. Write a general search term on a piece of paper

2. Exchange it with a partner

3. Using the same search engine for the whole activity,

run searches using:1. the original term

2. synonyms of the term

3. Boolean operators

4. Discuss with your partner how the results of each

search were different

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Evaluating Search Results

Some results won·t be helpful

² wrong topic

² not enough information

² incorrect or outdated information ² shallow or untrustworthy source

² wrong tone for your project (e.g. an opinionated

article when you need a basic overview)

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Have a clear idea of type of content needed

² general overview

² different viewpoints in a debate

² in-depth explorations of a topic with numbers and statistics

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No precise formula

Find out:

² purpose

² who is responsible ² when last updated

² whether information is corroborated in other places

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Some Clues to Determine a Site·s

Purpose

Tone and language used Assumptions/Generalizations

Commercial/Non-commercial

Advocating a particular opinion Copyright notice

Links/Sources cited

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Domain name extensions ² anyone can register .com, .net, .org domain names

² not a great way to tell whether a source is

´credibleµ ² .edu and .gov can only be used by educational

institutions and governmental institutions

still not necessarily reliable

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Evaluating Search Results:

Visuals

Good design NOT an indicator of reliable information Bad design not an indicator of unreliable information

² might be more likely to indicate an outdated

website or one run by an individual

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Wikipedia Articles

O ften one of the first results listed ´Web versus Printµ slides apply

Check for instructors· policies

Can be useful for: ² getting an overview

² generating new ideas

² pointing to other sources

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Evaluating Sources: Using

Wikipedia

Example of sources and further reading in the Wikipedia Henry VIII article:

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Resources for Online Research

O WL Resource: Searching the World Wide Web O WL Resource: Evaluating Sources of Information

O WL Resource: Copyright determine which content

you are allowed to use http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective/ (The Internet

Detective³site with activities for developing critical

online research and evaluation skills)

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For More Information

Contact the Purdue Writing Lab: ² Drop In: Heavilon 226

² Call: 765-494-3723

² Email: [email protected]

² O n the web: http://owl.english.purdue.edu

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