Search engine strategies

Ask yourself this question:

1) What SOURCES of information do I think are appropriate for this search?

§ personal web sites or blogs?

§ random comments on newsgroups or discussion lists?

§ letters or opinion pieces in newspapers?

§ articles in online news organizations?

§ directories?

§ web sites of political advocacy groups?

§ web sites of patient-advocacy support groups?

§ inspirational or religious web sites?

§ web sites with an obvious political bias? (right or left, conservative or liberal)

§ commercial web sites such as pharmaceutical companies?

§ articles in scholarly journals?

§ online encyclopedias?

§ online reference books?

§ book reviews?

§ lobbyist’s web sites?

§ government web sites?

§ think tanks?

§ web sites of non-profit or non-partisan organizations?

§ web sites of labor unions?

§ web sites of public television and public radio stations?

§ Wikipedia?

Then search the source directly (if you know it) or do a few exploratory searches if you do not know what source is likely to have the information. E.g. – if you want info on STDs, don’t just type the word into Google – instead, search in a government health web site such as the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), or Medline Plus.

2) Use the domains (.edu, .org, etc) to narrow your search.

3) Think about who is likely to have written and published about your topic – an individual? A group? A government department? A company? E.g. if you are looking for info on over-fishing of salmon or crabs, look for a government department or a group such as Greenpeace.

4) When you visit web sites, look for a link to reports or publications.

5) Use quotes around phrases.

6) Be prepared to revise your search and add additional words.

7) Use the Copy & Paste function in your browser when you see a promising lead – such as the name of an organization, person, or report title.

8) Use a search engine AFTER you have something specific to look for; e.g. you looked in a list of references at the end of an article and found the names of organizations or people that deal with your topic. rican identitynd drivers'her countries eventually end considering themselves American? nor anti-Wal-Mart? ________________

9) Switch to a good subject directory – e.g. Librarian’s Index to the Internet.

JC 08/30/06