To Google or Not To Google

Information Retrieval Tips

by Teresa Howard
LIBR 202

Finding Tools

There are a variety of tools to help you find what you need, and most fall into
one of three categories:
1. General directories (ex: Yahoo! Directory, Open Directory)
2. Search engines (ex: Google, Bing)

3. Specialized directories (Yahoo! lists thousands, used when

you need general familiarity for a particular area of study)

ck, R. (2013). Basics for the serious searcher. In R. Hock (Author), The extreme searcher's internet handbook (4th ed., pp. 8-12, 43). Medford, NJ: CyberAge Books.

General Strategies

Here are a few questions to think about before beginning a search:

1. Exactly what is my question?
2. What is the most appropriate tool to start with?
3. What search strategy should I start with?

Hock, R. (2013). Basics for the serious searcher. In R. Hock (Author), The extreme searcher's internet handbook (4th ed., p. 13). Medford, NJ: CyberAge Books.

Pick A Search Engine

There are many search engines to choose from and everyone has their
preference. The 3 main search engines are:

Choose A Topic To Search For

Once you know what you are looking for, start your search.
Ex: Turtles (How many species are there?)

Lets try Google and Yahoo for this search

Phrasing Your Search

There are two basic Boolean search commands supported in Google, AND and OR.

AND

Google defaults to AND searches automatically, so you don't need to type "AND" into the
search engine to get that result.

OR

If you want to find one keyword or another, use the term OR. It's important that you use all caps, or
Google will ignore your request.
To find all documents containing either sausages or biscuits, type: sausages OR biscuits. You can
also substitute the | character for OR, so sausages | biscuits searches for the same thing.

Karch, M. (n.d.). Boolean - how to find some or all of your search terms in google. Retrieved December 2, 2014, from
http://google.about.com/od/searchingtheweb/qt/booleantip.htm

Begin Searching
Google produced 5,560,000 results

Yahoo produced 20,300,00 results

Which results do I pick?

Knowing which source to pick from a list of search results can be tough. Always
check at least three to five sources. Compare sites by seeing if they state the
same (or close to the same) information about your research topic.
Sites ending with .org, .edu, and .gov are considered reliable.
If you need help figuring out if a source you choose is reliable/reputable, try
using this evaluation website:
http://21cif.com/tools/evaluate/

Choose A Source
From the Google results list, lets
choose allturtles.com

The page gives a vague answer, not a

specific number. So, not a very good
source.

From the Yahoo results list, lets

choose a source from the Yahoo
Answers (which I highlighted)

The Other answer is actually the best. She

provides the actually number (285) and a link to
a website (highlighted at the bottom).

Meylan, P. A. (2001, May 31). Testudines. turtles, tortoises and terrapin. Retrieved November 1,2014, from Tree of Life website:
http://www.tolweb.org/Testudines

Rephrasing Your Search

Lets try another search in Google. This time well use a different phrasing of
our words: number of species of turtles

Comparing Sources: Double Checking Results

This time we got more results (10,800,000), but possibly better results. Now
we must choose a source. From the list, it looks like the ask.com is closest to
our previous answer, so lets click on it

Verifying Information

Since ask.com is known to be a reputable website and its answer (270

species) is close to our previous findings (285 species), I would choose this
source for my research. They even list their sources at the bottom of the
page.

Ask.com. (n.d.). How many types of turtles are there? Retrieved December 2, 2014, from http://www.ask.com/pets-animals/many-types-turtles-2e64bac766545980

Searching For Another Topic

Soap (how do you make it?)

Choose your search engine or other source.

Type: how do you make soap
Choose a source: I choose the highlighted one. It provides step-by-step
instructions.

Using Other Online Resources

Air conditioners (how do they work?)

For this topic, I used a resource I already knew: Infoplease.com

Type: air conditioners
Choose a source: I choose the one most relevant to my search, plus its from an
encyclopedia, which is considered a trusted source.

References

References Continued