Internet Research

why? where? what? how?

Why?

Add your voice to a conversation

Find supporting evidence (or opposing viewpoints) for

your argument

Where?

Personal observations

Primary research (interviews, polls, etc.)

Library (secondary research)

Internet (secondary research)

What kind of information?

RECENT

What kind of information?

RELIABLE

What kind of information?

RELEVANT

How?

How?

How?

1. What are you trying to find (key ideas)?

2. What words are likely to appear on the page that has

the information you need (key words)?

3. How would the author of the page word it (key

audience)?

How?

Explore alternative search terms

Try out several sets of key ideas/words/audience

Go deep (beyond the first few pages of results)

How?

Google

Content rank

=/= credibility

How?

Don't try to verify what you already know.

Explore the whole range of information available.

How?

specific domains (.com, .org, .edu, .gov)

search limiters (Scholar, Books, time limits, etc.)

quotation marks (for exact phrases)

boolean search (AND, NOT, OR, etc.)

search alerts

Control-F/Command-F (search page)

How much do you

remember?1. What is the difference between primary and

secondary sources?

2. What are the three criteria to check for when selecting

sources?

3. What is one way to expand your search results in

Google?

4. What is one way to narrow your search results in

Google?

5. When conducting research, you should focus on

locating sources that support your opinion. True or

false?