USING
THE INTERNET AS A
RESEARCH TOOL
A site developed by
Mary Ann Gillispie, Janice Gintzler,
Ernestine McCain and Megan McCarthy
USING
THE INTERNET AS A
INTERNET RESEARCH PROJECTS TO EXPLORE
Introduction to Research on the Internet
There are three parts to this section to help you develop skills to use the internet with your reseach. Even if you are familiar with the internet, you need to focus to find the specific information you need as efficiently as possible.
Part 1 Your
Research Assignment
Part 2 Navigation
Finding the Information You Need
Part 3 Research
Product: Using the Information You Find
Part 1 Your Research Assignment
Review of Research Steps Needed Before Beginning an Internet Search.
| Know your topic | You have either selected a topic or your teacher has assigned you one. |
| Know your assignment | Will you be writing a research paper or producing a different product, a speech, powerpoint presentation or brochure, for example? If you are not sure about this, ASK YOUR TEACHER! |
| Write an Outline | You should have a first outline of your topic. Information on this outline will help you know what to look for when you do you research. In some cases your teacher will provide you with a list of the information that is needed for your project. |
| Prepare to take Notes | A note card is a 3"x5" card upon which you write information from your reference materials. This is just as important when using online references as in using books. |
| Bibliographic Cards | Make a bibliographic card (those 3x5" cards do come in handy) for each reference you are using for your assignment. For internet references this will be the URL (more on this later.) |
| Know about Copyright | Rules of copyright apply to internet references as well as to print information. |
Part 2 Basic Internet Navigation
Finding Information that You Need
Using the World Wide Web for Research
on the Internet
| What is the internet? | The Internet is a system of computers which provides people with incredible amounts of information including print, photos, maps and other useful information that you can use in your research assignments. Most of you already know that. What you may not know is how to find that specific piece of information, or map, or photo, or whatever, that you need for your assignment. |
| What is the World Wide Web? | The World Wide Web is one way of looking for information on the Internet using color graphics, sound files, text and videos. In most cases this is what you will use to do your research. |
| What are Search Engines and Search Directories? | These are online tools which can help you to search the internet. |
| What are URLs? | The "address" assigned to an Internet resource is called a Uniform Resource Locator or URL. |
How to use the WWW
Following are ways that you can access the www for your research.
Using
a Search Engine or Search Directory
Search Engines and Search Directories
Search engines
and search directories have very specific rules that must be followed when
you are conducting key word searches. If you follow these rules,
you will save a lot of time and find more information that will be useful
for school projects. (DiRuscio, Sarah p45)
Rule #1 Use the work AND when you wnat information about
two or more key
words together.
Example: frogs AND toads; famous AND women AND scientists; Lewis
AND
Clark AND expedition.
Rule #2 Use the word NOT when you want info about one
key work but no
information about the other.
Example: math NOT geometry; baseball NOT American League;
volcanoes NOT Hawaii.
Rule #3 Use Quotation Marks around the names of people,
places, or a phrase. This
makes sure that the words appear right next to each other in the web site.
Example: "Mona Lisa" "Toy Story" "President Clinton"
"California Mission"
"Great Wall of China"
SEARCH DIRECTORY VS SEARCH ENGINE
Search Directory - use a search directory when you re looking for a general topic, category or concept such as history, animals, science, geography, or literature. Search directories give you a list of general topics that you can click on to find information.
Search Engines - use a search engine when if want to find a web site on a specific topic or answer a question.
Activity: In this exercise you will compare finding information using a search directory or search engine. After you are finished return to this page:
Search Directory vs. Search Engines
Activity One: Yahooligans
1. Access this site and click on "Around the World" in the directory.
What happens and what do you find?
-- Return to yahooligan's homepage
2. Type in a country name in the search box.
What happens and what do you find?
Activity Two: Mgellan
1. Access this site and click on the Green Light sites only button
(upper right of screen)
2. Click on "Reference" in the directory.
What happens and what do you find?
-- Return to the Magellan homepage
URLsThis is an internet address that
you type in to access a specific site
Almost every computer resource connected
to the Internet has its own unique three part address or URL for identification
purposes. Following is an example of what each of the three
parts means.
| Part 1 | http:// | identifies this as a web address. |
| Part 2 | www.si.edu | name of server or cost computer |
| Part 3 | nestart.htm | specific name and directory |
Always be careful when type an URL becauses a type, missed spelling or missed period will cause an error and you will not connect to your resource.
URL Activity: Connecting to a Web Site using a URL
1. Type in one of the following
in the URL location box at the top of the screen.
2. Click on a hyperlink
of interest to you and describe what happens.
4. List three topics you
find of interest.
3. When you are finished
looking at this site, return to this page.
The White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov
CIA Fact Book: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications
Maps/Atlas Tool: http://www.atlapedia.com
USA Today Online: http://www.usatoday.com
Part 3. Research
Product: Using the Information You Find
The following activities will help you in using the information
you find in your research projects.
DOWNLOADING INFORMATION FROM A WEB SITE
Text
To copy text
from the Internet into a word process document:
1. Highlight the Internet text you want to copy.
(Don't forget about copyright considerations!)
2. Click on Edit - Copy
3. Open the word processint program.
4. With the black word processing document on your screen Click on
Edit-Paste.
Let's try this by getting information from one of the following sites ...
1. George Washington Carver: http://www.lib.lsu.edu/lib/chem/display/carver.html
2. USA Today World News: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/nw1.htm
Pictures (Online Activity
from Cyberbee)
Downloading
and Viewing Images
EVALUATING WEB SITES
There is so much information to be
found on the Internet it important to be careful that the information you
find is accurate and up-to-date. You need to consider the following:
| Web Site Contens | This web site provides meaningful content that supports your topic. |
| Authority | You can easily identify who has created the web site. This may be an author or a publication you know such as the Chicago Tribune. |
| Currency of Information | Information at this Web Site has been recently updated and revision date is posted. Like the copyright dates of books this informtion is important. |
| Value of Information | This web site provides information that is as helpful as looking it up in a book. For example, you may not want to search the web for a simple definition of a word. |
Following are online Evaluation Worksheets.
Schrockguide....Evaluating a Web Site
Cyberguide...Evaluating
a Web Site
Simple Search Strategies
Steps to a Successful Search
Helpful Library & Research Web Sites for Students
Let your
teacher know of sites that you have found helpful for research and it can
be added for other students.
CIA World
Fact Book
Internet Public Library
Library
of Congress
USA
Today Online
US
Census Bureau
last updated July 21, 1999
by Mary
Ann Gillispie, Janice Gintzler,
Ernestine
McCain and Megan McCarthy