Mastering Internet Research: Practical Steps and Tips

CONDUCTING RESEARCH How to find information on the Internet

Go directly to a site if you have the address www.whitehouse.gov/

Browse

Join an e-mail discussion group or usenet newsgroup http://www.liszt.com/

Conduct a search using a web search engine Northern Light Google Direct Hit MetaCrawler

The librarian’s index to the internet The Argus Clearinghouse The WWW virtual library INFOMINE Explore a subject directory

Explore the deep web (databases) www.invisibleweb.com/ www.webdata.com/ www.search.com/

PRACTICAL STEPS FOR WEB RESEARCH: How to formulate queries • Identify your concepts • List keywords for each concept • Specify the logical relationships among your keywords

TIPS ON CONDUCTING SEARCHES Read the directions Use Boolean logic Use synonyms Check your spelling Use capitalization if case sensitive Repeat using alternative terms Try different sources within search engines Try different search engines Try search engines which search multiple search engines

What if I have too many results? • Field search • Add concept words • Use vocab. specific to topic • Link terms with “and” (+) • Use term proximity operators • Enclose phrases within quotations • Use “not” to keep out unwanted terms

What if I have too few results? • Drop off the least important concept • Use more general vocabulary • Add alternate terms or spellings • Try “related documents” option

Keeping track of where you have been • Who • How • Where • What • Why • When

Your assignment: Do the internet activity Use any of the search techniques to obtain your information Keep track of the who, how, where, what, why, and when

References Cohen, L. (2001, May) Conducting Research on the Internet, http://library.albany.edu/internet/research.html Keeping an Internet Activity Log, http://schoolnet.ca/aboriginal/lessons/surf-log-e.html

Mastering Internet Research: Practical Steps and Tips

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