Web206: Topic 1.2: Sourcing information on the web

How do we locate reliable sources on the Internet with the sheer volume of information available? It is important that when doing research we find credible sources of information. They don't necessarily need to be academic sources, but reliable, respected experts in their field.

Did you know that you can narrow down your Google search using the words OR, AND and NOT? So when searching for science fiction you will be presented with hundreds of article on science fiction movies, comics, TV shows, etc. but if you want to eliminate movies it is best to search Google for science fiction NOT film.

When using Google Scholar for academic sources you will more than likely come across databases or journals which you cannot access unless you subscribe. If this is the case, make a note of the journal and issue number and then search for it in your university's library (which you are a member of).

Using the Advanced Search in Google (see below) opens up several fields where extra search criteria can be added to narrow down your search further. At Arrow 1 you can either enter your search criteria in the field 'all of these words' or 'this exact word or phrase' or 'any of these words' etc. At Arrow 2 you can ask for information updated within the past 24hrs, past week, month or year or anytime. At Arrow 3 you can only search titles or whole page text, and at Arrow 4 you can narrow down your searches for only pdfs or images, etc. It's a great idea to utilise Google's Advanced Search facility.

As well as using Google there are other search engines to help you find credible sources, including http://www.about.com/education/ and www.delicious.com

Another point to bear in mind when researching is who wrote the article you are using? When was it written? How respected and knowledgable is the author? Also ask yourself is the source biased in any way? Are their arguments only one-sided? Are they against first person shooter games because they allegedly cause aggression in young males but that's because that company sells anti-aggression medication? And finally does the page also provide links to other reputable sites?

Don't limit your research to websites alone - use blogs too! Just make sure the blogger is respected, is knowledgable and offers several arguments. Do they take pride in their blog? Is it full of spelling and grammatical errors? Is it full of advertising? If so - it's probably best not to use such a blog for academic purposes. http://technorati.com/blogs/directory/ is a blog directory. While http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/blogs shows us the most popular blogs at the present time and http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/media-websites the most popular media websites. These are updated monthly.