Conducting Online Research

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Conducting Online

Research
Effective Online Research Strategies
Overview
• For effective online research:
– know available search tools
– understand how tools work
– know how to use tools
– evaluate results found with tools
Online Research

• Characteristics of the Internet:


– large volumes of information
– convenient
– doesn’t contain all information
– potentially frustrating
Web versus Print: Web
• Web
– anyone with web access can publish
– author/affiliations and qualifications may be
unclear
– may not clearly identify external information
– may be biased/misleading
– publication info may not be listed
Web versus Print: Print
• Print
– extensive publication process
– clearly indicates author/affiliations
– clearly marks outside sources/quotations
– bias exists, but is reviewed
– only qualified manuscripts accepted for
publication
– publication info clearly listed
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
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 Google
4. Run another search using a library research
tool, such as JSTOR, EBSCOHOST, or
Megasearch
5. Discuss the kinds of results each search
turned up
Web Search Tools
• Search Engines
– list results based on entered keywords
• Web Directories
– offer categories for users to choose from
• Metasearch Engines
– combine results from multiple search engines
Search Engine Results
• Based on:
– site’s amount of information
– number of linking sites
– number of people who choose a link
– length of time in search engine database
– code of the site
Search Engine Results
• Different search engines might return different
results in a different order
• Can include results from paying advertisers:
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
Conducting a Search
• Consider:
– keywords that apply
– what kinds of information you need
– multiple angles
– keep notes
Using Search Terms
• Do multiple searches
• Try keyword variations
– e.g. try “dining hall,” “cafeteria,” and
“campus food service”
• Be specific as you learn more
– e.g. change “dining hall” to “Midwest
university dining hall”
• Boolean Operators: words added to a search to
make it more specific
Defining a Search: Boolean
Operators
• AND
– finds pages with all of the search terms used
– e.g. “dining hall” AND “student workers”
• OR
– finds pages with at least one of the search
terms
– e.g. “dining hall” OR “cafeteria” OR “campus
food service”
• NOT
– excludes pages that include the second term
e.g. Henry VII NOT Shakespeare
Defining a Search: Quotation
Marks
• Return pages with exact matches
– enter dining hall
• Get: “As I was dining, I heard a noise coming
from the hall”
– enter “dining hall”
• Get: “Dining hall food quality is assessed in this
paper.”
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
Evaluating Search Results
• Some results won’t be helpful
– wrong topic
– not enough information
– incorrect or outdated information
– shallow or untrustworthy source
– wrong tone for your project (e.g. an
opinionated article when you need a basic
overview)
Evaluating Search Results
• Have a clear idea of type of content needed
– general overview
– different viewpoints in a debate
– in-depth explorations of a topic with numbers
and statistics
Evaluating Search Results
• No precise formula
• Find out:
– purpose
– who is responsible
– when last updated
– whether information is corroborated in other
places
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
Evaluating Search Results
• Domain name extensions
– anyone can register .com, .net, .org domain
names
– not a great way to tell whether a source is
“credible”
– .edu and .gov can only be used by
educational institutions and governmental
institutions
• still not necessarily reliable
Evaluating Search Results:
Visuals
• Good design NOT an indicator of reliable
information
• Bad design not an indicator of unreliable
information
– might be more likely to indicate an outdated
website or one run by an individual
Wikipedia Articles
• Often one of the first results listed
• “Web versus Print” slides apply
• Check for instructors’ policies
• Can be useful for:
– getting an overview
– generating new ideas
– pointing to other sources
Evaluating Sources: Using
Wikipedia
• Example of sources and further reading in the
Wikipedia Henry VIII article:
Resources for Online Research

• OWL Resource: Searching the World Wide We


b
• OWL Resource: Evaluating Sources of Informat
ion
• OWL Resource: Copyright determine which
content you are allowed to use
• http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective/ (The
Internet Detective—site with activities for
developing critical online research and
evaluation skills)
For More Information

• Contact the Purdue Writing Lab:


– Drop In: Heavilon 226
– Call: 765-494-3723
– Email: owl@owl.english.purdue.edu
– On the web: http://owl.english.purdue.edu
The End

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