Google for Researchers

Follow These Steps to Google Like a Pro

Click the image to expand it.

"Google Like a Pro." News Literacy Project, https://newslit.org/tips-tools/eight-tips-to-google-like-a-pro/.

Use the links below to see more tips:

Finding information today is easy; it's all around you. Making sure the information you find is reliable is your challenge.

When you use Google or any social media to get your information how do you know it can be trusted? How do you know it's not biased?

You can feel pretty confident that books you get from the library and articles you find in the library's databases are reliable because someone or some group has checked all the facts and arguments the author made before publishing them. You still have to think about whether or not the book or article is current and suitable for your project but you can feel confident that it is a trustworthy source.

Make sure that each and every source you plan on using in your paper or research assignment passes the CRAAP test.

For more information on evaluating your sources, check out our CRAAP Test: Evaluate Your Sources guide.

Watch the brief video below to see how this works.

Face it; it's easy and familiar to many people.  Also, the Web is a great resource for research because it's so vast; you can find primary documents, news stories, research papers, pictures, movies, sound, government reports, and more.  For research you would use the Web to:

• Research cutting-edge topics
• Read current news and information
• Link to Library information & resources
• Discover information about companies
• Find information from all levels of government
• Read expert and popular opinions

• Most information on the Web does not go through any sort of review process
• You must be the editor of all the Web resources you choose to use
• Anyone can publish anything on the Web
• Not all information you find on the Web is free
• Information on the Web is not comprehensive
• Most information on the Web is not permanent

You should care about this because you want to use the best resources you can to answer your research questions and learn about your topic.