With so much information available at the click of a button, research has taken on a whole new meaning in today’s college experience. Using electronic sources effectively, however, takes some know-how. Click on the links below for tips on making the most of your online access:

Create Effective Searches

• Choose a good search engine, one with broad academic application, such as Google or Yahoo.
  
• Use your course materials to select the vocabulary for your search criteria. Web search results are only as good as the search words entered. If you get thousands of results with a broad search, you’ll waste a lot of time sorting through all of those to find articles that meet your needs. Taking the time to look through your text book and class handouts to find subject-specific terminology saves you time in the long-run and leads you to more appropriate articles.
  
• Leave out words like the, a, for, to, and of. Search engines look for key words and ignore most articles and prepositions.
  
• Use an advanced search to create specific parameters for a search. When you know you are looking only for articles containing an exact phrase, for example, or when you want to rule out articles with a topic that is interfering with your search, you can narrow your results considerably using the advanced search features provided in most search engines.

Use Databases

• Remember that the PSC library provides access to a number of databases which contain a wealth of highly appropriate articles. You can access these databases remotely by going to the library web page and clicking on the Online Resources button.
  
• Choose a database that is related to your research topic.
  
• Use Boolean searches to be more specific about what you are looking for

Consider the Source

• Select articles from sources that are credible and have some academic value.
  
• Online publications: Rarely would articles from National Enquirer or Seventeen be appropriate for college-level research, for example. On the other hand, online professional journals (journals published by and for professionals in a given field) are usually considered appropriate. Articles from magazines that are news-oriented and have established reputations, such as Time and Newsweek, are usually good choices too.
  
• Web sites representing organizations: Ask yourself whether the organization has objectivity and credibility. If the organization represents a particular viewpoint on one side of a controversial issue or if the organization is involved in profiteering, then you should consider the source suspect. This does not mean you can’t use the information, but be careful how you present it in your paper.
  
• Individuals: Anyone can post just about anything to the internet. Just because it’s out there doesn’t mean it’s true. So, be cautious about whose information you buy into. The blogosphere should be used judiciously, if at all, for academic research.

As You Go, Record the Information You Will Need for Source Documentation

• Whenever you use information from another source for a college paper, keep in mind that eventually you will need to have all of the necessary information to put together a complete source reference. Sometimes going back to find an internet source can be difficult, especially if you don’t remember the exact search words you used the first time, so write down what you will need when you’re accessing the source the first time.
  
• Find out in advance whether you will be required to use APA, MLA, or some other documentation style. This way you can be sure to collect the required information.
  
• If you do not see source information on the article’s web page, look for a “Home” button or a similar link that might take you to the main page of the web site. If there are no links, delete some or all of the suffix on the page’s URL and press enter (or click “Go” in your browser) to see if you can bring up a main page. Most often, this is where you will find the information you need for your reference list.
  
  • For example, reduce
    http://mathforum.org/library/resource_types/tutorials/

    (by eliminating everything after the .org)

    to find the home page at http://mathforum.org.

Actively Avoid Plagiarizing

• The ability to copy and paste from online sources has made plagiarism a pervasive academic concern. Most plagiarism by college students is done unintentionally. Nonetheless, plagiarism is a “failure event” with serious academic consequences. Students must actively work to avoid plagiarizing. Make sure you know what constitutes plagiarism and what you have to do to avoid it. See APA Citation Tips and MLA Citation Tips for more information.
  
• Keep copying and pasting to a minimum, and if you do paste anything into the body of your paper, be sure to enclose the material in quotation marks. Remember that even when you paraphrase, you must still credit your source for the information and/or ideas. See APA Citation Tips and MLA Citation Tips for more information.
  
• Many web sites now exist for the sole purpose of supporting cheating, offering papers – either for free or for a fee – for students to submit as their own. Putting your name on a paper written by someone else and submitting it for a grade is blatant academic dishonesty and can get you permanently expelled from college. Don’t do it. If you cheat on your college work – whether or not you get caught – you cheat yourself out of your own education and compromise your own integrity.