Effective Research Strategies and Techniques

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Effective Research Strategies and Techniques

• Kate Ellison

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User Context

• Before you start searching for your websites ask
  yourself why you need this information. For
  education, information, entertainment, etc. So
  when you arrive at certain websites you know what
  you should be looking for.

• After the url address each address will have some
  abbreviation. Such as .org .edu or .gov. these
  abbreviations can signal what kind of site each
  website is, for example .org means this site is
  an non profit site and you never know what kind
  of information you will get. .edu means this site
  was funded by and educational resource and will
  have more educational info. On it, and .gov mean
  that the site is funded by the government and
  will have information more one sided from the
  government.

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Web Context

• Visual distinctions that signal nature or context
  in print sources. A lot of the time more colorful
  sites are more resourceful because more time was
  put into the page, information and appearance.

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How to tell if your visiting a good web page.

• Accuracy- If all the information is accurate, you
  dont find different info. On other WebPages.
• Authority- Who made the page? Was it a kid or a
  person that studies the subject.
• Currency- How old is this WebPage? Was this page
  made or updated in 1998 or was it just last
  week/2007?
• Objectivity- What is the objective of this page?
  Is it to inform or to be funny?
• Coverage- What information does this WebPage tell
  you? Is it all about one part of a subject or is
  it about the whole subject and has all the
  information you need?

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If you think you have a good website still check
for

• Author
• Date published/updated
• Title of Journal
• Intended Audience
• Objective reasoning
• Coverage
• Writing Style
• Evaluate the reviews

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Is this website selling something?

• You need to scan through the web page you are at
  before you start to take information from it. If
  this website is trying to sell something it is
  likely it will not have 100 true information
  because the people or person selling the item
  will say about anything to try to persuade you to
  buy the product. Make the product sound as good
  as possible.

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Sources

• http//www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/research/web
  eval.html
• http//www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Int
  ernet/FindInfo.html
• http//www.dmturner.org/Teacher/Howto/researchweb.
  html
• d2l/orgTools/ouHome/ouHome.asp?ou6753
• http//www.worldbestwebsites.com/criteria.htm
• http//www.library.ucla.edu/yrl/referenc/judging.h
  tm