Four Steps to Locating Information on the Internet
Step One:
· Define and refine the research question
· Narrow the topic to several specific questions
· Keep refining research questions. It is easy to get off on a side track and waste time on topics that are related, but don't really address the question that you are researching
· Graphic organizers and outlines are useful
· Develop a list of key words for your research questions
Step Two
· Locate Sources: using search engines listed below
· Utilize Multiple web pages – 3 required for presentation
· Going on the Internet:
o First choice: www.google.com www.av.com
o Second Choice: www.yahoo.com or www.wikipedia.org
o Third Choice: www.dogpile www.mamma.com www.yahooligans.com
o Look first for good sources, don't just start taking notes from the first thing that you find. Reading the website information is a must. Do not just copy and paste. Know your topic information inside and out before you present.
Step Three
· Check the source of the information that you find:
· Who posted this information?
· Is this a reliable source?
· Is this a biased source?
· Is this site trying to sell you something?
· Always confirm information found on this page with another source on or off the Internet.
Step Four
· Look at Content
· Does the information on this page address my research question?
· easy to read?
· subheadings?
· table of Contents?
· Copy and paste the Web address (URL) so you can credit the source information in your work. You must have all URLs on a reference slide listed for any information, pictures, and sound files you used in your presentation.
Tips and Tricks:
1. For web sites that contain a large amount of text, use the find in text command of the browser to locate key words and then read that section of the text to find what you are looking for.
(Edit – Find – type in key word)
2. Use simple key words for searching educational Directories.
3. Always use more than one search engine or directory.
4. Use search tricks such as quote marks for phrases, * after root words, +, -, AND, OR and NOT, when using search engines that recognize these.
5. Cut and Paste Web Addresses into word processor to save for your bibliography. Type the name of the site and the date you viewed the site.