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Strategies for Researching a Topic on the Internet
These are a few suggestions for efficient Internet research.
Have a clear sense of your topic and its separate ideas, or concepts. Think of synonyms to describe the concepts. Remember that others may describe your topic differently; keeping synonyms in mind as you look for Internet resources may help you find more. You may want to modify your search as you read and discover additional terms.
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Do you need background information, articles, a list of books, photographs, a set of statistics, policies, or legislative information? Knowing which resources you need will help you determine which Internet sites and services to use.
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Magazines, professional publications (such as The Chronicle of Higher Education), newspapers, and other publications often publish Internet addresses and URLs. If you don't know of a resource with which to begin your research, try the following Web sites.
Resources Organized by Subject
Subject directories group Internet resources by subject. Descriptions
or ratings for resources may be included. Many directories can be searched
by using keywords.
Internet Public Library- A carefully selected collection of resources for information, reference and research, built and maintained by a consortium of graduate library schools.
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The
Internet Scout Project
- An ongoing publication of the InterNIC Net Scout project at the
University of Wisconsin - Madison, The Scout Reports announce
and describe new Internet resources of interest to researchers
and educators. It includes the Scout Report Archives, a collection
of previous reports.
- Librarians' Internet Index
- Selected and maintained by librarians, this is a good source for highly regarded online sources.
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The Library of
Congress
- The Library of Congress home page. Try the 'Research Tools' section
to access catalogs of the Library of Congress and other libraries,
specialized databases, and Library of Congress Internet resources.
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The WWW Virtual Library
- A subject catalog of Internet resources, maintained by volunteers
around the world. A service of W3C, the World Wide Web Consortium.
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Yahoo!
- One of the earliest and most popular directories of Internet
resources. Groups resources into well-defined subject categories,
which are searchable. A service of Yahoo! Inc.
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Searching the Internet
Use these sites to find Internet resources by typing keywords that
describe your topic. Search services differ in how they work and
what they cover. For more business news and technical
research about search engines, see Search Engine Watch
[http://www.searchenginewatch.com].
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AlltheWeb
- Features a huge database of resources and quick delivery of results.
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AltaVista
- Offers basic and advanced search modes, and a language translator.
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Ask.com
- Allows questions to be asked in plain English.
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Exalead.com
- Offers suggestiosn for narrowing your search.
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Excite
- Searches for related terms (click on "More Like This").
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Google
- Searches more than 1.2 billion webpages.
Meta-Search Engines
Some search services do not maintain their own index. Instead, they
send your search out to a number of other search engines, and deliver you
a synthesized set of results. Using a meta-search engine gives you access
to a much larger index of the Web than most individual search engines provide,
although you do normally lose the "advanced" features.
Dogpile
MetaCrawler/Go2Net
Search.com
WebCrawler
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Library Catalogs and Databases
Use these catalogs and databases to locate background information,
books, articles, and other research materials.
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ALADIN
- The online catalog for CUA and the Washington Research Library
Consortium. ALADIN also provides access to several subject-specific databases
(including business, education, library science, and the social sciences)
and a few that cover specific types of publications (such as newspaper articles
and book reviews).
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Britannica Online
- The online version of Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Includes Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (Tenth Edition),
the Britannica Book of the Year, and links to other Web sites
selected by the editors. Access is restricted to CUA students, faculty, and
staff. For off-campus access, users must connect through ALADIN, and Web browsers must be set
to accept cookies and run Java-script.
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COLUMBO
- The online catalog for The Catholic University of America Judge
Kathryn J. DuFour Law Library.
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The Library of Congress Catalog
- Connection to the library's online library catalog, and guides
to using it.
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Libweb: Library
Servers via WWW
- Links to World Wide Web home pages provided by libraries in the
United States and other countries.
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Open WorldCat
- Search the catalogs of thousands of libraries at once. If you register and sign in, provides information about libraries near you that own the item.
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Journals, Newsletters, Discussion Lists
Use these sites to find electronic journals, newspapers, and e-mail discussion
lists in your field.
Directory of Open Access Journals
e-journals (WWW Virtual Library)
Electronic Journals: CUA Libraries
NewsLink: Newspapers
TILE.NET (Internet mailing lists, Usenet newsgroups, and more)
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The quality of Internet resources varies. As with any research
resource, it is important to evaluate what you
find through the Internet. The following questions may help you
decide whether a resource is of value.
Is the resource created by an institution or individual with whose
work you are familiar, or has the resource been positively reviewed by a source you trust?
If the resource is an electronic text (such as a journal
article, report, or book), does it list publication information
(edition, date, and the other elements of a citation)?
If the information is time-sensitive, is it updated regularly?
Is the resource labeled with the creator's name, creator's
institutional affiliation, and the date of creation or modification?
Is the resource clearly organized and easy to use?
Is the name of a contact person provided?
Note that there are a number of printed and online guides to help you evaluate information sources.
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Print or save to disk the publication information for each resource you plan to cite, including the URL, author's name, creation or modification date, and other data required by the style guide you use.
Use these resources to find standards for citing Web pages and other electronic
resources.
Organize bookmarks or create a file of addresses and URLs for useful sites, to make it easier for you to find them again.
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