How to do Research on the Internet

When doing a research project one of the most frequently used resource for finding information is the Internet. We have created this guide to help you use search engines, aka the Internet, to the best of their ability. You will learn which search engine to use, tips and tricks for using them efficiently, and how to choose your results wisely.

1.      Choose your search engine.

a.       Be familiar with the search engine you are using and be aware of its strong and weak points. For example, if you need government information, USA.gov would be great at assisting you. If you are looking for medical information, try MedicinePlus. Google is great for general research. There are general search engines which work at a very broad level, specialist search engines which cover a very specific topic, and meta-search engines which will give you the results of several search engines all in one place, such as Dogpile.com.

2.      Understand search engine language.

a.       Boolean logic is the language of search engines. Boolean logic is using certain words or symbols in your search. “AND,” “OR,” “NOT,” “+,” “~” are examples of these words and symbols. You could use them to help you narrow your results. For example, if you are searching for “cats and dogs” and you want results that have cats AND dogs in them, you could type in “cats AND dogs” or “cats + dogs.” Otherwise, you will find the results that may have some with only cats or only dogs. If you search “cats OR dogs,” your results will be anything with a cat or a dog. On the other hand, if you search “cats NOT dogs,” then none of your results will have dogs in them. Using “~” will find synonyms for you.

3.      Basic search engine etiquette.

a.       It is useful to be familiar with basic search etiquette. There are several things you can always do regardless of any search engines. These include being as specific as possible, checking your spelling, using proper capitalization, using synonyms and other related words, and using full names or titles if you have access to them. To be as specific as possible, search exactly what you are looking for. For example, instead of searching “training”, try searching “successful dog training”. This can improve the results significantly. Don’t use punctuation or full sentences for that matter. If you do, you will get useless information.

b.      Users can learn specifics about each search engine in their “tips” or “advanced search techniques” pages. They are in different places for each search engine, but always appear as an icon after your search.So now that you have learned what to actually type in the search engine, what is the next step?For one, if you don’t find what you are looking for in the first few results, don’t give up! Not all results at the very top are the best matches. According to CNN.com, You should try to avoid clicking on "sponsored links" or "featured listings.” Sites pay search engines to be at the top.

Even if you find what you are looking for in the first few results, look further! If you are still struggling with finding results after you have used these tips and tricks, try a different search engine. Each search engine is completely different and you may be surprised to find that the exact same search will get you what you are looking for on one search engine, but not another.

Image retrieved from Google Images

For example, Google is considered the most “sophisticated” in its presentation of results, while Yahoo! comes up as the “under-sophisticated” search engine. Yahoo! doesn't offer as many shortcuts and snippets on its results page and it does not show as many results from other collections as other search engines do. You can narrow down results by choosing an appropriate domain result. For example, .edu domain results will contain valuable information relating education. Despite how similar they may seem, each search engine is very different and it would be beneficial to the results of your search to know them inside and out!

Meet the authors of this post: 

Parth Patel: I’m from India, I’ve been in the United States for four years, and I’m here for my associate degree transferring to the University of Illinois.

Emily Ward: I’m from Danville, Illinois. I’m studying elementary education and I plan on 

transferring to Indiana State University.

Rebecca Unger: I’m from Michigan and plan on achieving my Bachelor of Nursing, and furthering 

my education after that.

Serena Edwards: I’m transferring to Eastern for Hospitality Management.

Angela Schwarz: I’m from Roberts, Illinois. I am planning to transfer to the University of Illinois and I am majoring in Nutrition.

Kayton Cole: I’m from New Albany, Indiana. I’m here on a basketball scholarship and I plan on

transferring to a four year college.

We chose this topic because we know research will be a part of our entire college careers, as well as everybody else’s. We knew this project would benefit not only others, but ourselves as well.