1. Before you go to the computer, think and write down the key words and phrases connected to your topic. How do you spell them? What would the perfect source look like? What might be some other meanings of your keywords that you don't want?

2. Remember the questions to ask of any website in deciding whether to use it as a source:

Who put the information out there on the web for others to find?

What kind of informtion does the website contain? Sensible information? Wacky statements?

Where is the webpage located? Can you tell? Check the URL for clues.

When was the information last updated? Is it recent enough to cover new research?

• Remember to use your Power Tools to focus the search.

• You can set your Google preferences to display from 10 up to 100 hits per page.

+ means you must have this term in all results (Google assumes +)

- means this term must NOT be included in any result

"words in a phrase" tell a search engine that you want all of those words in exactly that order

site: tells Google to search only in websites with URLs ending in this string (ex . site:edu or site:nytimes.com)

• Scan the descriptions, look at the link URL domains, check for file types.

• The first hits in a results list are often Paid Advertisements, not necessarily the best matches. Look carefully!

• Google also ranks results based on the browers' search history. Your results may be different from the next computers's!

• TIP - open links in a new tab (or a new page), so you can easily go back to the hits page.

Do this with either - a right click or Control-click to open a menu. Chose "Open link in new tab" (or window)

TIP - use the "Find" function on the web page, under the Edit menu or Apple-F

5. Take notes on the infomation you find (after evaluating the reliability of the site)

• open a word processing file or NoodleBib project

• copy & paste the URL of that page next to the information

• separate notes from different sites (------, *******, or similar)

6. Based on what you've learned, adjust your keywords & power tools, and search again.


	Anna's Guide to Good Googling (and what to do with it once you've found it) 1. Before you go to the computer, think and write down the key words and phrases connected to your topic. How do you spell them? What would the perfect source look like? What might be some other meanings of your keywords that you don't want? 2. Remember the questions to ask of any website in deciding whether to use it as a source: Who put the information out there on the web for others to find? What kind of informtion does the website contain? Sensible information? Wacky statements? Links to reliable websites, or to wierd ones? Why is the webpage there? Where is the webpage located? Can you tell? Check the URL for clues. When was the information last updated? Is it recent enough to cover new research? 3. Perform your search. • Remember to use your Power Tools to focus the search. • You can set your Google preferences to display from 10 up to 100 hits per page. • Scan the results list -- are they any good? + means you must have this term in all results (Google assumes +) - means this term must NOT be included in any result "words in a phrase" tell a search engine that you want all of those words in exactly that order site: tells Google to search only in websites with URLs ending in this string (ex . site:edu or site:nytimes.com) 4. Check out any hits that look promising. • Scan the descriptions, look at the link URL domains, check for file types. WARNING !! • The first hits in a results list are often Paid Advertisements, not necessarily the best matches. Look carefully! • Google also ranks results based on the browers' search history. Your results may be different from the next computers's! • TIP - open links in a new tab (or a new page), so you can easily go back to the hits page. Do this with either - a right click or Control-click to open a menu. Chose "Open link in new tab" (or window) • Look for your search phrase on the page TIP - use the "Find" function on the web page, under the Edit menu or Apple-F 5. Take notes on the infomation you find (after evaluating the reliability of the site) • open a word processing file or NoodleBib project • copy & paste information you need • copy & paste the URL of that page next to the information • separate notes from different sites (------, *****, or similar) • SAVE your file 6. Based on what you've learned, adjust your keywords & power tools, and search again.**