Belltower

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Internet Research _______________________________________________

Belltower

INTRODUCTION

When using the Internet for research, it is important to keep a few things in mind:

Anybody with access to the 'Net can create and post a website.
The Internet itself is not regulated, edited, proofed, or otherwise monitored.
Everybody has an opinion, but opinion is not equal to fact.
Just because it's on the Internet does not mean you do not have to cite your source; you still have to give credit where it's due.
There are unscrupulous people in the world.
There are a lot of good sites out there; there are also a lot of bad sites out there.
Sometimes people will try to sell you things. Some things in life aren't free, and that applies to the 'Net, too.

In addition to these concepts, you should also carefully consider the credentials of the person or institution that created and maintains the page--are they experts? Do they have the right degrees? Are they educational institutions? Research institutions? Also bear in the mind the age of the information: when was the last time the page was updated? How old is the information the site provides? If you need up-to-date information, a web site that hasn't been updated since 2000 might not be a safe bet. One that was updated in 2004 would be good; one updated this year would be great. For a more in-depth look at evaluating resources on the 'Net, look here.

SEARCH ENGINES

There are a lot of search engines available on the 'Net--not to mention meta-search engines as well. A search engine is a tool utilized to perform searches on the Internet. It's basically a software program that scours the 'Net and retrieves websites based on your search term(s). A meta-search engine is a search engine that uses other search engines to conduct multiple searches simultaneously. It feeds your search term(s) to several different search engines (and their databases of webpages) and presents a listing compiled from the results of all their searches.

Not all search engines are equal. Some list their financial sponsors at the top of the list of results, regardless of the degree of relevance to your search. Some list their sponsors separately; some don't have sponsors, and therefore don't have to list them. Any search engine can help you find information on the Internet; the following are best for finding good information on the 'Net. Some are even ideal for finding scholarly information on the 'Net.

Google - perhaps the best-known search engine out there. Provides many different kinds of search options: one for images only, one for shopping, one for scholarly searching, one for news, as well as others. Additionally, it provides a free email account--Gmail--but is only available by invitation by someone who has a Gmail account -OR- by signing up via one's mobile phone.
Google Scholar - one of Google's many search engines. However, instead of searching for web sites, Scholar searches for scholarly publications on the 'Net. Sometimes the full article will be available; sometimes not. Scholar does search for articles in periodicals databases like JSTOR, so if your library has a subscription to that particular database, you will definitely be able to access the full text of the article.
Ask.com - used to be Teoma.com. Teoma is the Gaelic word for expert. Ask.com, the folks that brought us "Ask Jeeves," merged with Teoma. "The power of the Teoma algorithm, now known as ExpertRank, makes Ask search technology one of the world's most powerful and unique search engines" (from the Ask.com page).
Yahoo! - one of the best-known portal pages out there. While providing a variety of search options like Google, it also lists categories (like News, Horoscope, Shopping, Sports, etc.) which provide links to sources of information related to those general categories. Yahoo! also provides a free email account, Yahoo!Mail.
Vivisimo and Clusty - Two very similar and technically related engines, developed by the same company. Vivisimo and Clusty are cluster engines--they group the results of their search into categories. Vivisimo groups results by general subject or topic headings; Clusty groups results both by general subject or topic headings -AND- under specific categories, like Google searches (web, images, shopping, blogs, as well as others). Vivisimo also has products/solutions for businesses with regard to searching and managing information, as well as publishing.

More and more periodical databases are including web resources in their sources. Gale's Literature Resource Center (to which ULM has access) provides a listing of web sites related to the author or work you search on. Some of the EBSCO databases (to which ULM also has access) include free online journals in their sources.

CONCLUSION

CNN.com published an article on January 17, 2006, regarding a study on Internet usage published in Behavior and Information Technology journal. This study, conducted by Gitte Lindgaard, a psychology professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, determined that the average Internet user makes "aesthetic judgments that influence the rest of their experience with an Internet site" in one-twentieth of a second. This is problematic, as 1/20th of a second is hardly enough time to really determine the quality of the information on the site. It is therefore important to not let one's own aesthetic sensibilities guide one's usage of the 'Net. Remember--you're looking for quality information, not "purdy pictures."

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DISCLAIMER: The opinions stated herein do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Louisiana at Monroe. This page's creator is not responsible for the content of sites accessed from this website. This site created and maintained by Megan Lowe. Last updated 12.04.06.