Effective Use of the Internet for Research

Nicole DoyleFaculty LibrarianThe Library, Durham College/UOIT

Key Questions Where do you search for information?

• Google?• Yahoo?• MSN?• Others?

What do you find?

• Articles What kind?

• Historical info?• Wikis?• Blogs?• Quality?• Quantity?• Other?

What we’ll cover There are other search engines out

there! Using Google to find scholarly

articles. How can we evaluate what we find?

• Search Engine Results• Individual Sites

Don’t forget… Research is a process

• Identify and Articulate• Find Information• Evaluate• Present (and cite!)

This applies to all research, including research using the

internet!

Useful Sources of Information on the Internet

Government websites• Including Statistics Canada

Associations Open source journals Book chapters/excerpts Digital libraries

911 dispatcher

education

salary

Schools offering program

Individual experiences

Recent trendsCollege websites

Careers website?

newspapers

Blogs, websites

But, how do we find this useful information?

Think beyond Google

An Example911 dispatcher

Google: 911 dispatcher

www.clusty.com

Meta-Searching Search engines that search a bunch

of OTHER search engines all at the same time!

Google Tools Google Books Google Scholar

books.google.ca

Don’t forget to EVALUATE!

Let’s try the Library…

For example, find Books

Librarians have organized library resources for you

BY SUBJECT

Databases where you can find

NEWS about your career.

Using Library Resources Much of this content is NOT available

on the web by searching Google. Need a username and password to

access• same as you use to login to computers

Often need to use BOOLEAN searching• Not like Google• AND, OR, NOT

Library Databases do not use the

same language as Google!

Need to use Boolean Searching…

Translating a Google Search Google: 911 dispatcher careers Library: 911 dispatcher AND careers Better Library Search:

911 or emergencyAND dispatcher*AND career*

Evaluating What You Find

Checking Specific Sites Read “About Us” or “Contact”

sections. Apply regular evaluation criteria

• Who published it• Why

Who has registered the site?• www.whois.net• http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/

index.jsp

Source:http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/07/2562940.htm See also: http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2009/05/11/irish-student-dupes-media-with-wikipedia/

What type of site is it? www.bell.ca

• A site originating in Canada www.microsoft.com

• A company website www.ene.gov.on.ca

• Ontario government website www.hc-sc.gc.ca

• Federal government website www.dhs.gov

• American government website www.harvard.edu

• American educational website

Google: Euthanasia

Who has registered this site? http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/

Enter the site address…

A Few More Examples to Evaluate

www.rythospital.com

More Interesting Sites Try Googling “World Trade Organization

GATT”• http://www.gatt.org/• http://www.wto.org• Which one is real? Which one is first on

Google? http://www.whitehouse.net http://www.petersmap.com/page9.html

Help is Available! Reference Librarians are stationed at

the Reference Desk in the library to help students with research.• How to put together a boolean search• Which database to use• How to find books in our library• And more!