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Google

Google is a place to start but make sure you use professional indexes. A controlled vocabulary search is often more reliable and less overwhelming than a Google search. This is especially critical in Psychology, a field with a precisionist level of identification and assignment of articles to a highly controlled and defined vocabulary. Use PsycINFO as your default search mechanism.

If you do use Google for an Internet search; use Google Advanced Search for more control over the results. If you limit by Domain you can see the results from goverment sites (.gov), organizations sites (.org), or education sites (.edu). You can also limit by when the site was last updated.

Evaluate sites the way you would evaluate a book or other resource. Who sponsors/publishes it? When was it last updated? Who wrote it? Who thinks it is a good site? Typing "Link: " then the sites address in the Google search bar should result in a list of sites that link to that particular web page. Who points to it will tell you something about the usefulness of the page.

About using Web Resources

Note:  There are some excellent resources listed here, but please keep in mind that in general many Web-based resources must be reviewed for authority, accuracy and authenticity. Also, Web materials are time-sensitive - a page in existence one week may not be around the following week. We have tried to list reliable, stable websites, but these tenets are always good to keep in mind while browsing ...

Searching the Internet

Searching the web is tracked closely by the providers; such as Google, Bing, etc. Over time the providers know the results you have been going to and will start to ONLY return results they think you want. For example, if you primarily look at conservative political sites; eventually, the typical search engine will only ever return conservative political sites. You will never get any other viewpoint. Scholars are supposed to step back and look at all sides of the research subject. The practice of only returning what matches your search history is called a "search bubble."  It is one of the great opinion polarizers of modern web culture. Search providers also sell "top spot" returns which also skew the results you receive.

There are a few steps you can make to minimize the research impact of these practices: 

        + Make sure you look at all viewpoints in the first place.

        + Use a non-tracking search engine such as Duck Duck Go.

Check out the link Don't Bubble Us for a clearer explanantion!

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