6. Helpful Search Tips:
• Keep it simple
• Use words that are most likely to appear on the
page. Ex. Instead of putting (my head hurts) try
using (headache). You are not speaking to a
human when you enter your searches.
• Use as few words as possible
• Choose descriptive words. “Celebrity ringtones”
is a better search than “celebrity sounds”.
7. More Helpful Search tips:
• Put double quotes around a set of words
if you need your search results to contain
the exact words in the exact order.
• Use the minus sign to exclude certain
words from your search, ex. Jaguar –cars
–football).
• Use words such as and, or and not to
narrow your search results.
8. Advanced Search:
Most search engines have
something called an Advanced
advanced search allows you to be
more specific about what type of
information you are looking for.
When you visit a search engine, the
Advanced Search page is a great
place to start!
10. Is Your Internet Source Reliable?
Important: Anyone can post information on
the internet!
Make sure the information you are using comes from a
person or organization that can be trusted.
Determine who runs the web site. Usually, looking at
the first section of the web address will tell you where it
came from. If it came from a museum, university, or some
other place you’ve heard of , chances are that it can be
trusted.
Use the following checklist to decide whether a website
is reliable. If the site contains several characteristics in the
“Questionable” column, you probably shouldn’t use it!
11. Is Your Internet Source Reliable?
Website: Trustworthy Questionable
1. Do large companies you know advertise on the site? Yes □ No □
2. Are there any ‘dead links’, or links to ‘moved pages’? No □ Yes □
3. Do the images support the stated facts? Yes □ No □
Is the site hosted by a credible provider and reside in a
4. Yes □ No □
‘trustworthy’ domain.
Are there links and references to other websites, resources
5. Yes □ No □
and experts that corroborate this information?
6. Is the resource available in another format? Yes □ No □
Do the site’s authors have other publications with credible
7. Yes □ No □
sites and publishers?
Are the site’s authors experts in the subject? (Do they have any
8. Yes □ No □
credentials or experience around the topic?)
Is contact information provided and does the place/e-mail exist
9. Yes □ No □
and work?
Does the site present highly biased visuals (e.g. racist
10. No □ Yes □
statements, derogatory remarks, and emotional language)?
Is the site professional (grammar and typing errors are not
11. Yes □ No □
present or very minimal)?
12. URL STANDS FOR URL STANDS FOR
educational
non-profit
.org .edu (school or
organization
college)
government
.gov (state, federal, .com commercial
local)
personal page
.net from a private net
provider
The type of web site on which information appears can give
you clues about the credibility of the source.
Wikipedia is a .org site that should not be sited as a reliable
source since anyone can post information. This might be a
good starting point in research for brainstorming ideas and
Wikipedia often contains links to valid sources on the
subject.
