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Using Search Engines for Online Research

The Internet can be a resource that saves you time, but if you don't know how to use it properly, it can be a
frustrating experience. In this lesson, you will learn about how to properly nd supporting materials online with
research tips and tricks.

Researching Online
Abby is working on creating a speech for her government class. She knows that she can do
research on the Internet, but she isn't sure where to begin. She tries asking friends on Socialbook
and Beaker, her two favorite social networking sites, but she doesn't get the information she
needs. How can Abby research her speech using the Internet?

You may know more than Abby about researching. For example, you probably know that
researching online is very di erent from casual browsing. Researching on the Internet is far more
focused and has a speci c purpose. In this lesson, you will learn about how to use search engines
to conduct online research.

Types of Search Engines

Abby can start researching her topic using a large search engine to give her a direction with her
speech. In general, there are three types of search engines. You can think of the search engines as
general search engines, metasearch engine, and speci c search engines.

What I mean by general search engines is the search engine is a more wide-ranging search engine
that searches millions upon millions of sites for the information. Some examples of general search
engines include Bing, Yahoo!, and Google.

A metasearch engine actually uses other search engines to nd the information that you need.
You've probably used some sort of website that helped you nd the best deal on a ight or hotel
booking. A metasearch engine is the same way. You enter the keywords and then get a
comprehensive list of all relevant sites. Popular metasearch engines include Dogpile, MetaCrawler,
and Excite.

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Abby can use the smaller, more speci c search engines that are designed more speci cally for the
user's needs, such as a periodical database, for history and government topics. You can usually get
access to di erent academic databases through a library. Many of these require a subscription to
access the resources you need. Some of these databases include Academic Search, JSTOR, and
LexisNexis. Free databases include Astrophysics Data System, Citebase Search, and Directory of
Open Access Journals. There are many databases available for your use, so I encourage you to
search for your own!

Conducting Research Online

Keyword searching is generally what you use when you are rst beginning a search. Try to break
down your topic or research question into the overall main ideas; these main ideas become simple
keywords which you may use to search a Library database. For example, if you are researching the
di erent types of government, a good keyword to use would be 'types' and 'government.' But
maybe your speech needs to be more speci c. You may want the di erent types of government
structures that exist in the United States. Or you want to give a speech over the di erent
government types that exist in the history of England.

This type of researching can get overwhelming and confusing. Remember to just pick out the major
words that make these phrases important. It is generally not a good idea to put a long phrase into
a search engine. For example, if you want to give a speech over the di erent government types
that exist in the history of England, you may want to start searching 'England government' or
'history of England government.' Be imaginative and tenacious in your researching. Try as many
di erent combinations of words as possible and use di erent search engines to get your research.

Second, you need to understand how to use common commands when doing research. This is a
list of the most commonly used commands when researching:

Quotation marks "

Addition sign +

Subtraction sign -

Asterisks *

OR

When Abby has a phrase that she is researching, such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy,
where she wants to make sure certain words are always included together in the search, she will
need to use quotation marks (") around the words that need to appear together. Therefore, my
search would look like this - the assassination of "John F. Kennedy" - with quotations to ensure that
those words always appear together. Names aren't the only words you can use quotation marks to

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search. For example, if you were searching the di erences between cats and dogs, you may want
to make sure that the phrase 'cats and dogs' always appear together. Therefore, your search would
look like this: the di erences between "cats and dogs" in quotation.

When you are researching and you need to include a certain word in your search, you will use the
addition sign +. This will often help narrow the topic area you are researching. For example, let's
say you wanted to research information about the special shoes ballet dancers wear when dancing
up on their toes. You may decide to research the phrase 'toe shoes.' However, when you get the
search results back, all of the results have athletic footwear that conforms to your individual toes.
You were not looking for this type of information, so how do you narrow it down? You can search
toe shoes +ballet. Now you get search results about ballet. You nd that these specialized shoes
are called pointe shoes, and you are able to search from there.

When you are researching and you nd that there are certain words that come up in your search
results that are not part of your topic, you can use the subtraction sign -. This is used to exclude a
certain word. Abby is now researching the di erent types of government. However, she does not
want to include governments that are democracy based. She can research the phrase types of
government -democracy to make her search more e ective.

When you can't remember the words of a quote or a phrase, you can use an asterisk (*) to help in
your search. For example, if you were trying to remember the word that came after the phrase 'a
bird in the hand is worth two in the *', you would put an asterisk at the end of the phrase to search
for the word. You can also use an asterisk in the middle of a phrase and more than once, like this 'a
* paints a thousand *.'

Sometimes when you are researching a topic, you want information concerning two separate
things. In this case, you can use the word OR capitalized in your search. For example, Abby may
want to conduct research over the types of government that was happening in either 1800 or 1900
to compare and contrast the two. Therefore, she can use the phrase 'United States governments in
1800 OR 1900.'

Lesson Summary
Abby can use the Internet to access a vast array of information and resources. Using the Internet
can be a great way to do research. But there are a few things you need to keep in mind when
conducting your research. First, you will use a search engine, which is a program that searches for
words and phrases in documents, most often in online articles and resources. There are di erent
types of search engines, including:

General search engines

Metasearch engines

Speci c search engines or databases

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Once you decide which search engine is best for you, you can use keywords to do research.
Keywords are the ideal words used when typing in a search box. Breaking down your topic or
research question into overall main ideas can help you nd simple keywords you can use to search
databases. You can also use common commands to help you in your research. This is a list of the
most commonly used commands when researching:

Quotation marks "

Addition sign +

Subtraction sign -

Asterisks *

OR

Using these tips and tricks for researching online will save you a lot of time and frustration! Once
you nd your research, make sure it has a credible source. Check out our lessons on verifying the
credibility of your resources!

Learning Outcomes
Once you've completed this lesson, you'll be able to:

De ne search engine and identify the types of search engines

Explain what keywords and commands are in relation to online searches

List the commonly used commands for online searches

Describe general tips for performing e ective online research

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