1. 1 Internet Searching Jane Ellen Innes Cleary University Library jeinnes@cleary.edu Sep 2011

2. What we are covering What is research? Critical thinking Internet searching (search engines, strategies, tips) Cleary’s proprietary databases Proquest, Lexis/Nexis/Mel Others Evaluating information 2

3. What is Research? Primary versus secondary research Writing process stage 2: collecting How does research benefit your papers? Credibility Professionalism Where to begin 3

4. Critical Thinking What is critical thinking and why is it important? Critical Thinking Taking what you know, combining with what you learn to reach new conclusion Start with broad concepts and narrow 4

5. 5 Better searching with critical thinking Who is interested in what you are looking for? Learn about your topic as you search Get information from search summaries Increase your topic specific vocabulary as you search

6. Topic Worksheet A Topic Worksheet is linked at the bottom of this lesson page. Created by Joe Barker, Teaching Library, UC Berkeley Use search engines to increase your vocabulary on your topic. Take the information you learn from general Internet searches and search the Cleary Online Library. 6

7. Searching Internet Searching Search Engines 7

8. What are Search Engines? Large databases Full text of web pages Use keywords matching words in pages you want Built by computer robot programs No selectivity, no evaluation for reliability Each is different - Minimal standardization All accept “quotes” to search as phrase Good ones assume AND between words 4/26/10 8

9. How do you measure a search engine’s value? Size, freshness & unique pages How comprehensive are they? Ranking of results What order are results displayed in? Default search mode effectiveness Intuitive and easy to use? Advanced search options Can you perform complex searches Can you limit by date, type of site, etc? Overall convenience and usefulness Do you get junk or good stuff? 9

10. How to get the best results from search engines Match words in pages - FULL TEXT Be as specific as you can search on distinctive words - fallujah put “phrases in quotes”“collateral damage” scan your question for good search terms Start with one or two words or phrases add as needed to focus results 4/26/10 10

11. BOOLEAN SEARCHING 4/26/10 11

12. 4/26/10 12 Meta Search Engines Meta Search Engines search multiple sites and retrieve combined results. Meta Search Engines Explained (thanks UC Berkeley) Multiple Search Engines, Meta Search Engines, or Metacrawlers(SearchEngineShowdown)

13. Choosing the Best Search Engine Check NoodleTools (yes, NoodleTools): Search Engine Advice UC Berkeley Recommendations Search Engine Recommendations Subject Directory Recommendations 10 Best Search Engines of 2011 (About.com) 4/26/10 13

14. 4/26/10 14 Get a second opinion Statistics say no search engine has it all Only about 60% of pages in Google are also in other search engines Only 50% of pages in any search engine database are also found in all others Use another search engine Search Engine Showdown - http://www.searchengineshowdown.com/

15. Alternative beyond Google AskX - http://www.askx.com Bing - http://www.bing.com/ Exalead (http://www.exalead.com/search) Create your customized launching page with Exalead 4/26/10 15

16. Need a quick fact? Answers.com - http://answers.com Yahoo Answers: http://answers.yahoo.com Askville - http://askville.amazon.com/Index.do Use with caution; some are more reliable than others. 4/26/10 16

17. 4/26/10 17 Statistics Sources Nation Master - http://www.nationmaster.com State Master - http://www.statemaster.com Source for state, national and international statistics Cool tool for presenting graphical information Data from WHO, World Ban, CIA World Factbook, World Resources Institute, etc.

18. 4/26/10 18 Scholarly Sources Some resources require fees – good for reviewing reference lists of similar topics Google Scholar - http://scholar.google.com/ InfoMine - http://infomine.ucr.edu/ What’s the difference between a scholarly source and a magazine?(courtesy of Univ. Central Florida Libraries)

19. Cleary Online Libraries Login information Databases and focus areas Proquest Basic search, topic search, publication search Lexis Nexis Updated format makes searching easy MeL Other, topic specific databases (marketresearch.com, Hoover, NetLibrary) 4/26/10 19

20. Cleary Online Library Login Information 4/26/10 20

21. This is the opening screen of the online library. If you click on the ? Icon you’ll find more information about each database. Sep 2010 21

22. 4/26/10 22

23. Lexis Nexis 4/26/10 23

24. MeL 4/26/10 24

25. Market Research 4/26/10 25

26. Hoovers 4/26/10 26

27. CountryWatch 4/26/10 27

28. Additional Resources Cleary Research Wiki http://resources.cleary.edu Cleary Library Blog http://clearylibrarian.wordpress.com NoodleTools http://www.noodletools.com 4/26/10 28

29. Remember Check the Cleary Research Wiki for information on conducting research The more you research, the better you get at it Be patient and don’t always assume that the FIRST article you find is the best. 4/26/10 29

30. EVALUATING INFORMATION If you are using material that you’ve found via the Cleary Library, there is no need for further evaluation. If you’ve found some great information on the Internet . . . You need to investigate a little further. . . 4/26/10 30

31. Evaluating Information Why Evaluate What You Find on the Web? Anyone can put up a Web page about anything  for pennies  in minutes Many pages not kept up-to-date No quality control 4/26/10 31

32. 4/26/10 32 Evaluating Information Wikipedia: Good place to start but NOT a definitive source. DO NOT cite in your reference list Citizendium (signed Wiki) http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Main_Page

33. 4/26/10 33 Ask yourself Credentials for the subject matter ? “About us” “Philosophy” “Background” “Biography” Is it recent or current enough ? Look for “last updated” date - usually at bottom Why it the page put on the Web? Inform, explain, persuade, sell, entice, share, disclose? Parody or satire? Is it appropriate for your purpose?

36. Research will take more time than you think. Plan ahead! **