A short introduction on how to do research on the Web

1. Web Search Tools – The Basics
How to get from here To here

2. What Is the Web?
● Contains millions and millions of websites
● Content grows and changes every day
● Everybody can create a website, a blog or
Facebook page
● Finding information is not the problem,
finding relevant and reliable information
is!

3. Where to Start Your Research?
Simple Google Search: 52,100,000 results

4. If You Don't Know Much About
Your Topic
● Start with a Subject Directory like ipl2
● Subject directories contain websites selected
by experts and grouped by topic
● Find a general website about your topic to
– get an idea of your topic
– refine your topic
– find other search terms that can help you find
more specific information on your topic

6. When You Know Something
About Your Topic
● A Search Engine like Google can help you
find very specific and timely information on
your topic
● Google “crawls” the web to create an index
of websites
● When you search Google, websites are
retrieved from this index and ranked in your
results list based on a complex algorithm
● The ranking is NOT based on reliability

7. Like an Expert
● Don't write your search term in question
form
● Use quotation marks to group your search
terms, e.g. “stem cell research”
● Use more search terms to make your search
more specific
● Use the Advanced Search for more options

8. Advanced Search

11. Evaluating Web Pages
● Evaluating your results is the most imporant
part of your research
● WWW technique
– Who? Is it clear who is responsible for the content?
– What? What is the goal of the website?
– When? Is the information outdated?
● Never use a website for your paper unless you
have evaluated it!

12. Using Your Results
● Keep a log of websites you have looked at
● If you are going to use information from a
website in your paper, you need to cite it and
include it in your list of resources
● Make sure you have all the information you
will need for your citation

13. Last But Not Least
● Websites are not the only resources you
should use for your research
● Databases and other resources from the
library have lots of good information
● If you need help with your research or
citations, librarians are there to assist you
● Don't be afraid to ask!

14. Links to Resources
● City College Library Website: http://www.ccsf.edu/NEW/en/library.html
● City College Library Guide to Finding Information on the Web:
http://www.ccsf.edu/NEW/en/library/finding-information/web.html
● ipl2 Subject Directory Website: http://www.ipl.org/
● Google Advanced Search Page:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search
● City College Library Guide to Evaluating Information:
http://www.ccsf.edu/NEW/en/library/research-help/evaluating-information.html
● City College Library Guide to Citing Sources:
http://www.ccsf.edu/NEW/en/library/research-help/citing.html