Conducting Online Research

1
Conducting Online Research
How to Locate and Evaluate Internet Resources
2
Can you search effectively?
Many people know a lot about technology but NOT a
lot about how to search the Internet!
3
Do I know how to be a good, efficient searcher?

• Considerations
• 1. Am I using the best source?
• 2. What do I know about Internet research?

4
Internet Research involves

• Search engines
• Gathering information
• Website treasure or trash?
• Crediting sources (avoiding plagiarism no
  copying)
• Organizing
• Synthesizing info (putting it together)
• Presenting what you have learned

5
Electronic Searching
6
Ever try to locate information online and you
get
too
many results??
or
no results at all?
7
Keyword searching

• Powerful if done correctly.
• Very fast.
• Used with search engines on the Internet.

8
The Big Mistake
Usually, people use search terms that are too
broad. This will produce too many results that
are not relevant to your topic.
9
Keywords

• You must provide a word or set of words that will
  enable a computer to find matches, or hits.
• Example
• What are the effects, if any, of television
  violence on children?
• Keywords effects
• television violence
• children

10
Boolean Operators

• Connecting terms that give instructions to the
  computer
• AND OR NOT

• Notice the capitalization and is not the same
  as AND

11
Boolean Operators AND

• AND allows you to combine terms
• television AND violence
• AND is a limiting search
• This will access results pertaining to BOTH
  television and violence viewed on TV.

violence
12
Assignment Research a college or school
(post-secondary education)

• Art AND college
• Art AND school
• This will find records pertaining to art colleges
  and art schools.

13
Boolean operators OR

• OR allows you to search for similar terms
• OR expands the search

14
Teens involved in car accidents search for
Teens OR adolescents AND car accidents
Using OR between search terms
15
Boolean Operators NOT

• NOT allows you to exclude terms
• NOT is a limiting search.

16
Assignment Research dolphins, their habitat,
physical characteristics, etc.
Dolphins NOT Miami
NOT
17
Phrase Searching

• VERY USEFUL searching TIP!!!
• Using quotation marks two words
• Tell the computer to look for two or more words
  together
• television violence
• acid rain
• Red River Valley
• Red River Valley of the North

18
Search StringA search string is one word or a
string of words that you ask a Search Engine to
use so it can find that specific piece of
information online.  
 
19
With these search techniques, you will save
time and be more successful in obtaining the
results you need!
20
But I found it on the Internet?
Treasure...
or
Trash?
21
Why do we need to evaluate web sources?

• Virtually any person can publish almost anything
  on the Internet.
• Unlike most print sources, web sources do not
  have to be professionally accepted and edited to
  be published.

22
Before clicking on the link, look to see if it is
a personal page. Check out the domain name or
the dots
.gov Hosted by a U.S. government agency .com
For-profit business, personal sites .edu
Educational organization .org Nonprofit
organization .net Hosted by a network .biz
Business site (newer than .com) .ac Academic
organization (outside the United States)
personal webpage
23
Try the C.A.R.S. evaluation checklist
C Credibility A Accuracy R Reasonableness S
- Support
24
Credibility

• Who is the author?
• What are the authors credentials experience,
  education, training in the field related to
  this information?
• Has the author provided contact information?
• Appearance of site looks professional, pictures
  and/or graphics, organized, neat
•         

Warning signs
Anonymous Information
Misspellings, faulty links, messy appearance
25
Accuracy

• When was this material compiled or created, and
  when was it presented? Is it recent?
• Is this a comprehensive presentation of the
  thinking and the facts related to this topic?
• For whom and for what purpose (advocacy,
  information, persuasion) is this information
  intended?

Warning signs
Out-of-date or undated information, expired
links, inaccurate or overly generalized
information, biased information
26
Reasonableness

• Does this author argue points fairly and
  dispassionately?
• Is the material presented objectively, or is it
  slanted and bias?
• Does the information make sense, given what I
  know of the world? Is it believable?
• Does the information contradict itself?
•    

Warning signs
Manipulative or emotional language, one-sided
information, a conflict of interest between the
source and the objectivity of the information.
27
Support

• Has the author provided documentation a
  bibliography (list of works or resources) for
  this information?
• Can you find at least two other sources that
  support the data presented?

Warning signs
Lack of documentation of claims, information that
contradicts other reliable sources of
information, positions on issues that you already
know to be faulty.
28
Additional Information to remember Cite your
sources, clip art, photos. Give credit where
credit is due! The media center has baskets with
Cite Slips that you can use to document. You
can also find sites online that document for you
http//www.easybib.com http//www.citationmaker
.com
29
(No Transcript)
30
Practice safety when online! If you are on
MySpace, consider making your page private.
Never put personal information on the Internet
such as where you attend school or where you
live. This could be very dangerous. It is best
to keep your personal information private to
everyone in the cyberworld. You never know who
you are really chatting with!
31
Do you really want this man to have to
Hunt You Down???
32
Review Putting it all Together
When searching the Internet, use keyword searches
to access the fastest, most relevant
results. Look at the dots. What type of
webpage is it? Use the C.A.R.S method to evaluate
the page Credibility, Accuracy, Reasonableness,
Sources Document your information Use safety and
good, ole common sense when working or playing
online