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Researching the Net

How to Manage Information Overload

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Learning to Conduct Academic Research is an important skill. Knowing where to look is half the battle!

What are my options?

Library Databases

Search Engines

General (Google, Yahoo!, Bing)
Academic (Google Scholar, RefSeek)
Specialized (Science.gov, Artcyclopedia)

Books

General Nonfiction
Encyclopedias
Reference

See TeachThought’s blog post:

100 Search Engines for Academic Research

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Talking to Databases

Watch the following video created by the librarians at Kent State University Libraries in which Emily, a student, is assisted by another older student with using keywords to conduct a search in an academic research database.

Talking to Databases

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INFOhio - Ohio’s Digital Library

INFOhio is free to use for any educator, student, or families of students in the state of Ohio. Below are a few INFOhio resources.

ISearch

Explora Grades 9-12

Points of View Reference Center

ALL INFOhio Resources

Tips for each database:

ISearch: Explain that this tool is like “Google for INFOhio” - that is, one search will access nearly all of INFOhio’s databases at once. This will produce a lot of search results, or “hits”, so students will need to learn how to reduce the results. Use the tabs at the top to divide by type of resource and reading level (i.e. “basic” and “advanced”); use the limiters on the left-hand side to specify date ranges, subject, specific resource or content provider, etc. Tell them that expanding the subject menu on the left will help them to drill down through the results very effectively.

Explora Grades 9-12: Explora contains articles from newspapers and magazines as well as primary source material and maps, etc. There are research starters on the homepage. The advanced search page will help students create a more specific search. All EBSCO databases provide predictive search help when using the advanced search.

Points of View Reference Center: This is a great “pro/con” site for students who are researching controversial topics. The homepage provides research starters that are organized by topic. Once a topic is selected, students will see an overview article and then articles that explore that topic from different points of view. It is also possible to search with keywords.

A link to the “All Resources” page is also provided.

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Other Library Database Resources

Two other free database resources are the following:

The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County:

Databases can be accessed and freely used with a library card.
There is often a live person to chat with if you have questions.

The Ohio Web Library

The Ohio Web Library is another digital library of research databases free to Ohio residents. Access requires either a public library card number or an INFOhio login.

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Academic Search Engines - Filtering out the Junk!

Sweet Search, Infotrek, and Infotopia are fantastic academic search engines made by educators and subject experts for student research.

Sweet Search

Infotrek

Infotopia

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Be Search Engine Savvy!

Search Engine Basics:

Internet search engines index and organize hundreds of thousands of web pages; each search engine has its own proprietary way of generating search results.
Search engines range from the general to the very specific - some search engines even search multiple search engines (such as eTools.ch)!
Google is usually the search engine of choice for most people. Generating the right results takes practice!

How to Search on Google

It is important to find reliable information when using search engines - not just anything will do!

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Evaluating Online Resources

Website Evaluation

It is important to carefully evaluate websites to see if they meet the criteria necessary for use in academic research. If a website is not credible and reliable, it should not be used as a resource. Watch the Shmoop video below:

Easybib has created a nice presentation that teaches the basics of website evaluation:

Websi t e Evaluation Guide

Evaluating Websites (Library Learning Commons)

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Sample Websites

Examine the following websites and evaluate their credibility. Do they pass muster?

Hamlet and His Problems

Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

Oceana

Vote Smart

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CHS Information Center and NWHS LMIC Websites, Destiny, and Destiny Discover - All Available from Your Home Computer!

Our school libraries have other research resources available for your use. See the list below:

CHS and NWHS Websites

Resources curated for research, project, and homework help.
CHS Link: CHS Information Center
NWHS Link: NWHS LMIC

Destiny Library Catalog

nwlsd.follettdestiny.com
Select “Colerain Sr. High School” or “Northwest Sr. High School.
Login by inserting your student ID number for both the username and password.
Select “Catalog” to search for books.
If no books are found, click on the “OneSearch” tab, top right, to find online resources.
Connect to Destiny Discover from the left hand menu in order to search for eBooks.