How to find excellent information on the Internet
| If
you are like 73% of current college students, you might be inclined to start research by firing up Google. |
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Little known, and very important, facts about Google:
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| If you love Google, try new Google Scholar,which limits its results to "scholarly literature such as peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts, and technical reports," according to a company statement. | |
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If you use only Google, you will be missing out on all of the information in the subscription databases and other full-text digital resources provided by the OWHL. | So, where are you going to go? |
THERE'S
A LOT TO LEARN ABOUT SEARCHING. |
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| general searching information |
web searching tutorials |
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| Internet
Search Tools and Techniques |
Web
Search Strategies Searching the World Wide Web The Spider's Apprentice The Google Guide Googling to the Max |
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| YOU
WOULDN'T USE A SCREWDRIVER TO POUND IN A NAIL, WOULD YOU? IF YOU'RE GOING TO USE THE FREE WEB, SELECT THE RIGHT TOOL FOR YOUR PURPOSE. |
| SEARCH TOOL NAME | TYPE | WHEN TO USE | |
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Search engine | When you are looking for something very specific; for example, the name of a company, information on a person, a specific fact. | |
| Meta-Search Engine | When you are looking for an overview of a topic, or a broad sense of its coverage. | ||
Scirus
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Science |
Specialty Search Engine | When you are looking for a specific type of information: Science, Social Science, Humanities, Biography, Physical Science, Geography, News, Government, etc. |
About.com |
Directory or Clearinghouse | An excellent starting place for most general searches. Particularly helpful for narrowing topics. | |
| Question Service | These services allow you to type a question in natural language, and receive an answer from human experts or via artifical intelligence. | ||
| Virtual Library | Librarians have attempted to bring order into the chaos of the Internet. These sites organize the web into traditional library classifications | ||
| Finding
Images on the Web Introduction to Web Images |
Media Files | When you are looking for images or media | |
| Ready Reference | When
you are looking for a quick fact. When you are looking for a current news story. |
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You will almost always achieve better results with the high-quality electronic databases and reference sources chosen by the OWHL librarians and licensed for your use. |
SEARCHING
THE PROPRIETARY WEB |
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| DATABASE | CONTENTS | WHEN TO USE |
| Academic
Search Elite Expanded Academic Plus |
These
multi-disciplinary databases offer full text for thousands of scholarly
journals, including nearly 1,500 peer-reviewed titles. Offers full
text information dating back to 1985. |
For scholarly coverage of broad or specific contemporary topics across disciplines. |
| Biography Resource Center | Almost
a million biographies including full text of the complete Marquis
Who's Who(R). Has the full content of Contemporary Authors. Source
citation is at the end of each article. |
For Biographical Information |
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Current news from newspapers TV and radio. Current national and world news. Selected full text for over 180 regional U.S. newspapers, international newspapers, newswires, newspaper columns and other sources as well as indexing and abstracts for national newspapers. Current local and regional news. |
For Current News |
| New York Times Archives | Full
text of The New York Times: Archives 1852-1999 |
For historical news |
These comprehensive databases offer full text for more than 3,650 scholarly business journals covering management, economics, finance, accounting, international business and much more. Mergent provides a suite of information sources that enable in-depth business and financial research Regional
Business News provides Full text coverage of 75 business journals,
newspapers and newswires from all metropolitan and rural areas within
the United States. |
For Information about businesses or corporations | |
Access science is a science resource center, including the full text of the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. General Science Collection offers full text coverage for more than 60 of the most popular science publications. Contains
full text of scholarly and consumer oriented articles on health
and medicine, Stedman's Medical Dictionary, plus the full text of
health reference books. |
To answer questions or to conduct background research requiring information relating to science or health | |
CQ Researcher and Opposing viewpoints are contain indepth treatment of contemporary "hot" topics. CIAO is a comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs. |
For information on politics, government, and international affairs. | |
These collections are intended for educators and school administrators. They provide a highly specialized collection of more than 550 full text journals, including more than 350 peer-reviewed titles. ERIC
contains more than 2,200 digests along with references for additional
information and citations and abstracts from over 980 educational
and education-related journals. |
To answer questions or to conduct background research requiring information in the field of education | |
| Ready Reference | To use when you are looking for an encyclopedia article, a definition, or a quick fact. |
| Don't know which database to choose? Try this list to select a database that is particularly targeted to your discipline. |
Discipline-Specific list of Databases Provided by the OWHL
In the News
When
a Search Engine Isn't Enough, Call a Librarian
New York Times, Feb.
5, 2004
