I came across a link on Twitter this morning that I definitely need to share with all of my students: Ten Steps to Better Web Research from one of our favorite research sites, SweetSearch. According to SweetSearch, the Ten Steps to Better Web Research are:
- Think before you search
- Make the search engines work for you
- Don’t Believe Everything You Read
- Search engines are not always the best place to start your search online
- Try several search engines, not just one
- Dig Deep, the best results are not always at the top
- Are you looking at a primary source? Why not?
- Who created the Web site and writes its article? Why?
- When was the information written or last revised?
- Are the ads on the site clearly labeled, or are they masked as information?
Be sure to read the article as it explains each of these tips more in-depth and also includes a lot of fabulous links. A few of my favorite links from the article:
- Making Search Engines Work for You: Tips for Better Searches
- Google Search Basics: More search help
- Zuula (searches several search engines at the same time)
- Discovering Primary Source Material – from the Finding Dulcinea Blog
You might also check out:
- Google Search Basics Help
- Google’s Explore Google Search
- Google News Timeline – more useful for recent history
- Google Squared
- Bing’s Search Help
- Students Guide to Web Search
I hope you’ve noticed the recent changes to Google search. You no longer click on “Show options” at the top of the page to find other search options like the Wonder Wheel (which you’ll see already in the sidebar). Instead, click on “”More search tools” in the left-hand sidebar:
When you click on “More search tools”, you’ll find several more options to help you with your search:
Being able to search well is quickly moving to the top of my list as “must learn” skills before graduating. The tips you shared are very helpful!
I definitely want to spend even more time on research skills next year! Perhaps we can put our heads together over the summer and come up with the perfect plan!!
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