Finding good sites with google

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Finding GoodWebsites

with Google

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First, let’s conduct an experiment

Say, you’re doing research on Martin Luther King Jr.

Will Google help you find good information? Let’s find out!

Found at http://seattletimes.com/special/mlk/

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Searching for a Martin Luther King Jr. biography

You type in “martin luther king” thinking you’ll be able to find tons of information on him

Lets look at the results…

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Results for “martin luther king”

The first hit, Wikipedia, is okay but it’s not a good source to cite in a paper.

The second hit on Nobel prize winners might be good, but it may not have enough info.

Wait… the third link looks really good…

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This is a .org site and even has his name in the web address.

Seems perfect… right?

martinlutherking.org

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Once you look at the page, several items suddenly look suspicious and you realize the site provides blatantly false information.

Who made this site and how did it show up in our search?!?

Wrong!

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Who is behind the site?

Sometimes it is not easy to know.

Look for an “About Us” or similar link on the page.

If that does not provide enough information, try a “WhoIs” search.

Go to networksolutions.com/whois and type in the web address.

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Who is behind the site? Scroll through the

information, you will see the site is owned by Don Black, a member of an organization named Stormfront.

Google both and you will find that this site was created by white supremacists!

How does Google allow such an inaccurate site to show up so high?

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How Google Ranks Its Results

Google’s PageRank system- measures the number of links to a single site

Older sites often have more sites that link to them, which ranks them higher, even if their information is outdated or inaccurate

There are other tools Google uses, but we don’t know much about them

Graphic from http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/researchers-borrow-from-google-pagerank-for-network-defense-service/1540

Google uses several things to rank their results…

So how can I use Google to find good sources?

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Better Google results

Let’s find sites written by experts. Use “site:” to narrow results just to

the type of website you want to search.

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Using ‘martin luther king’ as our search keywords, search for types of sites.

Some good results are:

governmental sites (site:.gov)

educational sites (site:.edu)

organizational sites (site:.org)

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Exact phrase

And

Search an exact phrase by putting words in quotes. “martin luther king”

In many databases you can search for material with two or more ideas in common with the word “and.” Google assumes the word ‘and’ between words

Use Boolean tools to refine your search…Part One

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OR

Synonyms

Put a tilde before the word such as “~stress.” The tilde key is at the top left corner of the keyboard.

Or in a search provides options. In Google the word ‘OR’ must be in all caps.

Use Boolean tools to refine your search…Part 2

Not

Not eliminates an idea from a search. The ‘not’ in Google is a minus sign with no space before the word… “-earthquakes”

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Can I Use Wikipedia?

Wikipedia Can be Used For: Finding general information

about a topic Picking up ideas and terms

about the topic Finding other sources from the

Reference list at the bottom

http://ohinternet.com/Wikipedia

Wikipedia can be helpful with your research, if used in the right way.

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Wikipedia Should NOT be Used for…

Citing in a scholarly research paper

Factual data as the main source in your paper

A source of unbiased information

http://ohinternet.com/Wikipedia

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Where can I find the References in

Wikipedia?

Not all of these will be reliable, but there will be a lot of good sources here.

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4 Tips to Evaluate Websites

1.Look for the person or organization who created the site.

Source: http://www.hacktabs.com/tips-to-plan-for-a-custom-website-design/

Research the author to see if they may have a bias toward this topic

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2. See if the website expresses only one side of an argument.

4 Tips to Evaluate Websites…

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Biased information will not give all viewpoints and sometimes may not be accurate

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3. Look to see if the website cites any other sources.

Source: http://blog.thinkwell.com/2011/07/citing-online-sources.html

If no sources are cited, the information on the site may be the author’s opinions, not facts.


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4. Look for a date of publication or an update

Source: http://www.noodletools.com/guide/showme/web_site_advanced/8.html

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Outdated information may be inaccurate or incorrect


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Reliable alternatives to Google…

• ipl2.org: Internet Public Library only presents sites selected by experts.

• GoDuckGo.com: New search engine with fewer ads and better results. You can use “site:” here too.

• WolframAlpha.org: Use this site to find statistics and facts.

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Need photos, audio or video for your presentation or projects

Try search.creativecommons.org where you can freely use the materials resulting from your search. Keep an eye on the license. Many creators want their name listed or may limit commercial use and that’s only fair!

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Don’t Forget!

Through your MC3 Libraries website you can access to hundreds of reliable, scholarly

resources!

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Let’s Review!Please click on the correct answer to move to the next page:

Question #1: What is NOT one way to verify if a site is reliable?

Check to see if the site cites other sources

Check the title of the site Check the date the site was published

Check the author of the site

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Correct!

Move to Question 2

A title may not truly match the content of a site. It is best to read through the actual content and look at the bias, author, citations of other sources and

recent updates in order to determine whether it is valuable or not.

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IncorrectReturn to Question 1

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Question #2: What is something that Wikipedia CAN be used for?

A resource to cite in a scholarly paper

A source of unbiased informationThe main source of factual data in a

paper

Finding citations of scholarly resources on the topic

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Correct!

Move to Question 3

Wikipedia is great for finding other scholarly resources on a topic, but it should not be cited as a scholarly resource in a paper.

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Question #3: Which of the following IS a boolean operator?

And

Plus

True

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Correct!

Move to Question 4

And, Or, and Not are the boolean operators to help you combine terms, choose one of several terms, or exclude terms respectively.

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Question #4: Your MC3 Library resources are more reliable than Google.

True False

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Correct!Finish

Your MC3 Library is the best place to find reliable, scholarly resources you can trust to help you with your research!

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Need Help?Visit, Call,

IM or EmailBrendlinger Library

(215) 641-6594West Campus Library

(610) 718-1864IM a [email protected]

https://mymccc.mc3.edu/allcampusresources/academicaffairs/lib/Pages/Ask%20a%20Librarian.aspx

mailto:[email protected]?subject=reference%20question

Finding good sites with google

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