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What is “research”?

By definition, research is a
systematic inquiry that attempts to
provide solutions to existing
problems and questions using facts
and data.

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 What is “research”?

 METHODS
 PROCEDURES

They are both recorded so that they

can be viewed and accessed y others.

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Online Searching
Online searching is the process of
interactively searching for and
retrieving requested information via
a computer from databases that are
online. Interactive searches became
possible in the 1980s with the advent
of faster databases and smart
terminals.
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 6 Online Search and Research Skills

1. Check your sources

Evaluating information found in your

sources on the basis of accuracy, validity,
appropriateness for needs, importance,
and social and cultural context.

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 6 Online Search and Research Skills

2. Ask good questions

Developing and refining search queries

to get better research results.
Example: Students will enter a search term,
say, “Abraham Lincoln,” and comb through
pages of results that aren’t related to their
research (think Lincoln beards, Lincoln Logs),
rather than narrowing their original query
(“Lincoln assassination”).
Saint Joseph College
 6 Online Search and Research Skills

3. Go beyond the surface

Displaying persistence by continuing to

pursue information to gain a broad
perspective
Studies have shown that when using a
search engine, users often stop at the first
search result, which they deem the most
trustworthy.
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 6 Online Search and Research Skills

4. Be Patient

Displaying emotional resilience by

persisting in information searching despite
challenges
Today’s students are used to information
on demand. So when they can’t find the
answers to their questions after they’ve spent a
few minutes poking around online, they may
grow frustrated and throw in the towel.
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 6 Online Search and Research Skills

5. Respect Ownership

Respecting intellectual property rights of

creators and producers.
Plagiarism is the act of using another
person’s word or ideas without giving credit to
that person.

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 6 Online Search and Research Skills

6. Use your networks

Using social networks and information

tools to gather and share information.
Wikipedia must be evaluated like any other
website. In particular, students should focus on
the sources cited in a Wikipedia article and
ensure these sources are legitimate.

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 HOW TO
GOOGLE
YOUR
SEARCH?
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 How to Google your search?

1. Use “Exact Phrase”

Use “ ” (quotation marks) to search for an

exact word or phrase.
Example: “Monarch Butterfly”
* This will ensure that results will contain
that phrase.

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 How to Google your search?

2. -Exclude

Use dash – to exclude words from your

results.
Example: Mustang –car
*Because Mustang could either mean a
horse or a type of car that was named after
them, excluding car from the results will find
more results for horses.

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 How to Google your search?

3. Fill in the *

Use an asterisk as a placeholder for any

unknown words.
Example: * is anything that *
>The asterisk is used where you don’t
know the correct word. Google will guess the
phrase.

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 How to Google your search?

4. This OR That

Use OR to search for results that contain

one term or another. Be sure to capitalize both
the O and the R.
Example: Stocks OR Bonds
*Without OR, the search would only
contain results that used both words.

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SERP – Search Engine Result Page