DOING RESEARCH ONLINEOct. 14, 2014

Today

Doing research on the Internet

(partly adapted from the Purdue Online Writing Lab – OWL)

Link: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/558/01/

Traditionally

People went here for research

And used these:

Photo credit: kmu.ac.kr Photo credit: www.agoracosmopolitan.com

Photo credit: blog.ivci.com

Research: Traditional vs. Online

Traditional way to put ideas into print.

Write the paper paper is reviewed by other academics (peers) changes are suggested author makes changes re-submits the paper

How to put ideas online

Go to website write something press “submit” or “post”

KMU Dongsan Library

Using KMU’s library

library.kmu.ac.kr

- log in now.

- KMU has purchased subscriptions to many academic journals (both domestic and international).

- You can also use the library’s website to locate books in the library.

KMU Dongsan Library

Your best option for finding reliable information (academic journals).

- Two routes for finding academic articles:

1. 학술 DB 리스트 : Database list (of articles)

2. Searching directly for the article through its journal

KMU Dongsan Library

Databases ( 학술 DB 리스트 ) click here

click here ( 가나다순검색 )

click here (Science Direct)( 바로가기 )

Search “Applied Geography”

Databases

Often, you can find the full article, in pdf form here.

If not…

KMU Dongsan Library

- Searching for individual articles

- On the main page, click 전자자료 click 전자저널

Resources list

Databases used in geographical research:

http://www.otago.ac.nz/library/databases/results.php?code=geog&dept=Human%20Geography

Resources list

List of Human Geography related academic journals:

http://humgeog.athabascau.ca/resources/journals/

Research & the Internet

The Internet can be a great tool for research, but finding quality web materials and using them to your advantage in your writing can be challenging.

The need for evaluating sources

- Almost any person can publish almost anything on the Internet.

- Unlike most print sources, web sources do not have to be professionally accepted and edited to be published.

Looking for Sources

You want to consider:

- Relevance (to your topic)

- Quality

- Bias

Looking for Sources: Quality

Quality sources are:

- Trustworthy facts.

- Verifiable anecdotes (not, “My dad said…”).

- Expert/Well-informed opinions.

Also need to consider where the source got the information (first hand: primary or secondhand” secondary).

Looking for Sources: Quality

Possibly Quality:

- Journal articles.

- News articles.

- Books/ PROFESSIONAL magazines.

- Organizations’ websites.

- Videos (i.e., TED)

Poor Quality:

- Yahoo! Answers.

- Wiki answers.

- Wikipedia

- Personal blogs.

- Message boards.

- Naver Cafes.

Looking for Sources: Bias

Quality sources are:

“Studying writing is awesome!”

- Why did the author choose “awesome”?

This may not necessarily be objective.

Objective sources are more reliable because they rely less on peoples’ feelings and personal opinions.

Looking for Sources: Bias

Chevrolet Malibu (car)

- Chevrolet’s website:

http://www.chevrolet.com/malibu-mid-size-sedan.html

- Recent news story about GM recalls:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/gm-recalls-1-5-million-cars-over-power-steering-issue-1.2593275

Research on the Internet

1.Use search engines to your advantage

2. Identify the web site

3. Examine for credibility

4. Determine depth and scope of information

5. Assess date of information

Types of web pages

Informative pages

Personal web pages

Political/interest group pages

Marketing-oriented or “infomercial” pages

Entertainment pages

Search Engines

- An Internet tool that locates web pages and sorts them according to specified keywords.

Obviously, Google is the most well-known, but there are others.

i.e., www.yahoo.com

www.bing.com (difficult to use in Korea go through Daum.net)

http://www.excite.com/

Search Engines

Enter: Hong Kong democracy

into the following search engines:

www.yahoo.com

www.google.com

Meta Search Engines

These sites collect and organize results from several search engines.

http://www.dogpile.com/

http://www.all4one.com/

http://www.metacrawler.com/

Meta Search Engines

Search for Hong Kong democracy

In

http://www.dogpile.com/

Google Scholar

Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)

www.scholar.google.com

“Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature.”

Using Keywords

Make sure to read the directions for each search engine to get the most out of your search.

Use words like “AND” and “OR” to limit your search and get more specified information.

i.e., If researching tobacco lawsuits and settlements

Using Keywordsi.e., If researching tobacco lawsuits and settlements

- You could use these keywords in several combinations.

Cancer

Lawsuit

Tobacco

Smoking

Teenagers

Legislation

Settlements

Using Keywords

Smart phone use in school

i.e., school smartphone statistics. smartphones in schools. School smartphone bans. Smartphone use in classrooms

Using Keywords

Smartphone use in school

Altering your search – “quotation marks”

i.e.

smartphones dangerous

vs.

“smartphones are dangerous”

Using Keywords

Smartphone use in school

Altering your search - AND

i.e.

smartphones dangerous AND expensive

NOTE: Different search engines have different functions and commands.

Evaluating sources

Use search engines to your advantage

- Identify the web site

- Examine for credibility

- Determine depth and scope of information

- Assess date of information

Evaluating sources – identify website

Assess the authorship, content, and purpose of the web site.

This is important because- many web sources are not checked for accuracy.

- some personal sites are used to express individual opinions about issues, but not necessarily the facts.

- some sites may have purposes that differ from the first impressions.

Evaluating sources – identify website

Sometimes the actual purpose of the web site may not be clearly articulated.

Can be difficult to separate advertising from accurate information.

Some marketing sites will offer misleading information in attempts to sell their products.

Evaluating sources – identify website

Examples:

The Onion: http://www.theonion.com/

From last year, one famous article from The Onion:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/kim-jongun-named-the-onions-sexiest-man-alive-for,30379/

Evaluating sources – identify website

Examples:

http://www.martinlutherking.org/

Martin Luther King Jr. – A True Historical Examination

Evaluating sources – identify website

The Daily Mail

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html

Evaluating sources – identify website

Examples:

WTO (World Trade Organization)

http://www.wto.org/

http://www.gatt.org/

Evaluating sources – identify websiteWhenever possible, try to locate the home page.

You can often do this by eliminating some information from the end of the URL.

.org .gov

.com .net

.edu .us

.au .uk

Evaluating sources – identify websiteWhenever possible, try to locate the home page.

You can often do this by eliminating some information from the end of the URL.

http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue13/music/

http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue13/

http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/

Evaluating sources – identify website

• Who is the creator of the site?

• What is the purpose of the site?

• Who is the audience of this site?

• Can you purchase products at this site?

• Is the site affiliated with a business or university?

• Does the site offer information about a particular person or group?

Examine for credibility

Credibility may be compromised by purposeful misinformation or by unintentional neglect.

Locating the name of the site’s creator may be challenging.

Credentials may be missing even if the author’s name is provided.

Examine for credibility

Who is the author of the site?

What is the authority or expertise of the individual or group?

What else comes up when you type the author’s name into a search engine?

Does the source have a political or business agenda?

Is the site sponsored by a political or business group? If so, what can you find out about that group?

Examine for credibilityDoes the site provide a list of sources or a Works Cited page?

Can you locate any of the source material? How reliable is this material?

Are there links to other credible sites with additional information?

Does the site provide a link for emailing the author or webmaster?

Click the following link:

http://www.infowars.com/barack-obamas-de-facto-totalitarian-nation/

Next google search “Alex Jones”

Determine depth and scope of information

Does the material show signs of research, such as references to other sources, hyperlinks, footnotes, or a reference page?

Does the author consider opposing points of view?

How closely does the site really match the information for which you are searching?

Corroborate information whenever possible!

Evaluating a website

Go to Google Scholar

www.scholar.google.com

Search: dangers of smartphones

- Click on the first result

“Paranoid Android”

Evaluating a website

Compare the following:

http://studentblog.worldcampus.psu.edu/index.php/2014/03/the-dangers-of-smartphones-and-why-putting-it-down-may-help-you-in-school/

http://www.macdigita.com/technology/smartphones-suck/

Evaluating a website

Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

DO NOT cite Wikipedia in any paper.

- It is an open-access encyclopedia, meaning almost anyone can alter/edit the content of an entry.

- The information on a Wikipedia page may not be reliable.

Evaluating a website

Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

- You may use Wikipedia as a starting point for gathering information, though.

i.e., search “Toyota recall”

Evaluating a website

Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

- You may use Wikipedia as a starting point for gathering information, though.

i.e., search “Toyota recall”

- The “References” section provides you with possible sources of information.

Resources

- Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab

“Searching the Worldwide Web”

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/558/01/

- Internet Detective:

http://www.vtstutorials.ac.uk/detective/