Introduction to Online Research

1. Introduction to Online Research Stand-alone Instructional Resource Grades 6-9 Created by Aisha Arshad

2. Finding Information Step 1: Prewriting • Write down what you know, • What you need to find out, and • What types of sources you need to search in. • Develop some search phrases based on the above.

3. Finding Information Step 2: Searching • Type in your first search phrase. • Scan your results for anything that hints at being useful. • Right click on each of these and choose “Open link in new tab”. • Repeat the above steps for your other search phrases.

4. Finding Information Step 3: Analyzing • Begin skimming some of the web pages you’ve accumulated. • Read the ones that seem useful and bookmark them for future reference, and close the others. • Return to Step 1.

5. Evaluating Sources & Info Step 1: Evaluate Sources • Evaluate each source for its credibility. Can you tell who wrote it? Are they knowledgeable or just a lay person? Does it matter for your assignment?

6. Evaluating Sources & Info Step 2: Evaluate Content - Basic • Evaluate the content itself, in a rough way at first. Is the content popular or scholarly, serious or humorous? Is it new or outdated? Does it have a list of sources or none?

7. Evaluating Sources & Info Step 3: Evaluate Content - Advanced • Now have another look at the content using your critical thinking skills. Does the information seem reliable? Is it biased?

8. Integrating Info Step 1: Begin note-taking • Using only the quality information that you found, begin to construct your paper, framing the ideas from your online research around your own opinion and prior knowledge.

9. Integrating Info Step 2: Go back to searching • If you find as you begin integrating the information you have gathered, that it is not enough, or that there are gaps in your knowledge, then go back to step one. Refine your search phrases, use the advanced search features available on the website, and if needed, try other search engines. Your goal is to narrow down your research and find just what you need.

10. Citing sources Preparing your Works Cited page • Find out which method of citation your teacher prefers and prepare your “Works Cited” or “Bibliography”. Use free online tools such as http://www.zotero.org/ (Firefox) or http://www.scholarword.com/ (all) or http://www.easybib.com (all) to help you automate this process. Go back and Review Proceed to Test

11. Questions “Googling” your search phrase is the first step in doing online research: TRUE FALSE

12. Wrong Answer  Go back and try again Review the material

13. Correct Answer! There are several steps you should do before you start “googling”. Do you know what they are…? Proceed to Next question

14. Questions All of these steps should be done before you begin searching the Internet: • Write down what you know, • What you need to find out, and • What types of sources you need to search in. • Develop some search phrases based on the above. TRUE FALSE

15. Wrong Answer  Go back and try again Review the material

16. Correct Answer! It’s the best way to ensure you’ll find the most quality information in the fewest number of searches. Starting your “googling” before you’ve even planned out what you’re googling for, does not save you time! Proceed to Next question

17. Questions One search phrase should be enough to find all the information you need: TRUE FALSE

18. Wrong Answer  Go back and try again Review the material

19. Correct Answer! You should have several search phrases on hand before you start “googling”. Even then, you may not find everything you need. The Internet is huge! Try refining your search phrases, or using other search engines. Proceed to Next question

20. Questions Once you begin to find information, you don’t really need to read each one in full before deciding if it will be useful or not: TRUE FALSE

21. Wrong Answer  Go back and try again Review the material

22. Correct Answer! Who has time to read through each link? Simply start by scanning the list of articles in your results page. Guess at which ones look useless and just skip them. Those that look like they have a shot at being useful, go ahead and skim them. Only read an article if your scanning and skimming tells you it’s a pretty good bet. Proceed to Next question

23. Questions Imagine finding information on oceanographic weather on two different websites: www.noaa.gov and http://ocean.peterbrueggeman.com/. Which one do you think would be the better resource? The first one The second one

24. Wrong Answer  Go back and try again Review the material

25. Correct Answer! That site is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, and the other one is from some guy named Peter Brueggeman. We don’t know who he is…maybe he’s an expert, maybe not. At first glance we can’t tell. But why did the first website take your notice (even though you weren’t told who or what it was hosts it?) Because of the “.gov” extension, I hope!) Proceed to Next question

26. Questions Once you’ve found all your sources and evaluated them for their accuracy and credibility, the next step is to copy and paste the information into your paper (and of course change the words around so it’s not plagiarism!): TRUE FALSE

27. Wrong Answer  Go back and try again Review the material

28. Correct Answer! Copying and pasting your online research into a Word doc (along with its citation) is a great way to collect and organize your information, but not a method for writing your paper. To begin writing your paper you must synthesize all your sources into one main idea, and give them a common voice (yours!) Proceed to Next question

29. Questions Once you’re done writing your paper, you’re done, right? Yup, now let’s celebrate! Nope, I feel like we’re still missing something…

30. Wrong Answer  Go back and try again Review the material

31. Correct Answer! Whew! You’ve still got one more step, and that is citing all your sources. All those facts you used were shared by someone else, right? Since you were informed by sources, your sources must be named  This last step is not so bad if you use one of the free online citation tools listed before. Happy writing! End of test. Press Esc to end, or… Show me that list of tools again!