Consider Quality
How do you decide what website is worth considering for your research paper? Use the following principles:
Authorship
Does the site/document have an author? What are the author's credentials? Why should you trust this author as an expert?
Publisher/Sponsor
Who sponsors or publishes the source? What evidence demonstrates that the sponsor/publisher is credible? What purpose/perspective does the sponsor seem to promote?
Currency
How recently was the information posted or modified? Could it be outdated or obsolete?
Credibility
How do you know that the information itself is trustworthy? Are there links to other sites/sources to support factual claims?
Smart Searching Using Google
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Indicator |
Purpose |
Example |
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site: |
Find information from a certain site |
site:www.pointloma.edu |
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define: |
Find definitions for a word |
define:collegiate |
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filetype: |
Find only one kind of file |
filetype:PDF |
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-word |
Eliminate results with particular words |
college protests -vietnam |
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“word” |
Find an exact word (no plurals/synonyms) |
“generation” “exploit” |
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“multiple words” |
Find a group of words in exact order |
“No Child Left Behind” |
Navigating Your Results |
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[Cntl/Command]+F |
Find a certain word on the page |
Hold down Control or Command key and press letter F: A box appears. Enter the word you’re searching for. |