For better results in Google, librarians will use various strategies which include:
Domain searching -- Limits results according to a website's top level domain. For example, .gov (government websites), .edu (education) and .org (organization)
Site searching -- Limits results to a particular website
site:url search term(s)
site:www.cdc.gov zombies
Boolean operators --
OR - Broadens searches by only requiring either of the search terms it combines to appear in the resulting webpages.
AND - Narrows searches by requiring any of the terms appear in the resulting webpages. Google defaults to AND so it is not needed
Phrase searching -- Although Google looks for all of the terms entered they will not appear as phrases unless quotations are used
Postcode limiter -- Limits the search to a particular zip code
Related limiter -- Limits search results to websites that are similar in content
Statistics -- Use the tilde (~) to find data related to search terms
It is important for a researcher to evaluate any resource for reliability and usefulness. The following are the general elements considered when reviewing a resource.
Evaluating Resources -
Author/Publisher or Sponsor - What is their knowledge of the subject or expertise in the field? Do they have a vested interest in a certain point of view? Pay close attention to an author's word choice, omissions, the limiting of debate, framing of the story, and the selection and use of sources. Bias influences include geography, affiliations and the nature of the medium.
Audience - Is the information appropriate for an academic audience? Check out any ads on the page for clues.
Date - Is something more current needed?
Accuracy - Are there errors? Is the resource fact or opinion based?
References - Are there citations? Are the cited sources reliable?
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