6.+Research+Online

What is the best way to find information online?
The Internet is a very powerful tool for research. It is however, only one tool among many, and is only as reliable as the people who post the information. It is important to know how to get the most out of information online, and how to tell good information from the less reliable.

So, firstly, some simple tips when using Google.
 * Don't type in your exact assignment question into Google. Research the topic, and come up with your own answers. Not only is this the best way to actually //learn// the information, but the only response you are likely to get to an exact query like that is one persons opinion on a site like yahoo answers - not very useful!
 * Use a range of words in your search to narrow down what you are looking for. Working in pairs, complete the following activity, (or you can download this pdf and fill out the information on the sheet). [[file:Smart Searching.pdf]]

Open Internet Explorer and go to [|www.google.com].


 * Let’s say you need to find out whether the element mercury is toxic. Start by typing in ****//mercury //****and hitting the enter key. **

How many web pages were retrieved? Look over the description of the first 6 sites. What are they about? Make a brief note about each site.


 * We can see now that Mercury ****has more than one meaning. Try adding the word ‘element’ to your search to be more specific. **

How many Web pages were retrieved? Look over the description of the first 4 sites. What are they about? Make a brief note.
 * These sites may answer to your question or they might not. Try adding a t ****hird word, ‘Toxic’, to your search. **

How many Web pages were retrieved? Look over the description of the first 2 sites. What are they about? Make a note.

After you have finished this task, explore [|Google Advanced]- you can search by language, for particular file types, by country domain (eg .au for Australian websites) and for entire phrases. Remember, your teachers also know how to use Google advanced - it makes it very easy to catch people plagiarising other's work.

There are also other search engines besides Google. You could try [|Dogpile] (uses several search engines at once)or [|Bing] or there are many others.