This tutorial will discuss the following:

• Types of web sites
• Conducting internet searches
• Using Google Scholar

By the end of the section, you'll be able to do the following:

• Identify different types of internet resources
• Know when to use Google Vs. Google Scholar
• Develop better searching strategies

Types of Resources:

We live in the information age, and thanks to search engines like Bing, Yahoo, and Google we have many types of resources literally at our fingertips. However, not all of these resources can be trusted. Anyone who has access to the Internet can also upload both correct and incorrectinformation. As an information consumer, it is your job to become informed about the different types of informaton resources available on the internet.

The Interent Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN, "Welcome," 2012), is an orgnaization that coordinates the assignment of internet addresses and also maintains a listing of the different types of internet sites listed at http://www.icann.org/en/resources/registries/listing. Here is a brief listing of the most important domains:

Site Suffix	Purpose	Can anyone register the site?
.biz	Businesses	No
.com	Commmercial	Yes
.coop	Cooperatives	No
.edu	U.S. Educational Institutions	No
.gov	U.S. Government	No
.info	Unrestricted use	Yes
.mil	U.S. Military	No
.net	Intended for Network Providers	Yes
.org	Intended for Organizations	Yes

(ICANN, "Registry," 2012)

Any web site that ends in a suffix with a "Yes" in the last column above can be owned by an individual and therefore is not a trustworhty source for an academic paper unless that individual is an expert on the topic.

Sources:
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. (2012). Registry listing. Retrieved from:
      http://www.icann.org/en/resources/registries/listing

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. (2012). Welcome to ICANN! Retrieved from:
      http://www.icann.org/en/about/welcome

Internet Research:

Internet research can be tricky simply because there are so many resources out there. Google can make things easier or it can be extremely frustrating depending on whether your research question is simple (what is insomnia) or complex (information on how feminism is portrayed in post world war II literature). For simple questions, Google is a good place to start. You can simply type your question into the Google search box or for more targeted results you can use some of tricks demonstrated in the video.

Google Scholar:

For more complex research questions, Google Scholar is a great resource for finding topical information from articles and books. Because the searches work differently, you can find information here that is owned by your library but does not come up when you search the library catalog or databases. This is also a great way to find items to request through interlibrary loan.


There are several other resources on the Internet that can help you find more scholarly resources for those complex research questions:

• Directory of Open Access Journals - Free, full-text, scholarly journals in a variety of subjects.
• National Science Digital Library - catalogs science, technology, mathematics, and engineering web pages.
• Internet Public Library- a program that attempts to catalog reputable web resources. Librarians are available to help answer reference questions.

Quiz

Before you answer the questions, be sure to fill in your name and class information so it will appear correctly on the submission page. The submission page will appear automatically when you click the submit button at the end of the quiz. Print the page and turn it in to your professor.

First Name: Last Name:

Professor's E-mail:

Class Semester Professor:

1. Which of the following types of web sites can be owned by individuals?
   .gov
   .mil
   .com
   .biz .gov, .mil, and .biz sites are all restricted sites. However, they should still be evaluated for bias as the information posted may be trying to push certain agendas or ideas.Correct, anyone can get a .com site and post false or misleading information.


2. You should use Google Scholar to answer simple research questions.
   True
   False CorrectGoogle or other search engines are great for simple research questions, while Google Scholar is great for more complex research questions.
   
3. How do you exclude words from your results in Google?
   Parenthesis
   Minus sign
   Plus sign
   Asterisk CorrectThe parenthesis and plus signs can be used to form complex searches, while the asterisk is used a wild card by some search engines.
   
   
4. Which search below will give you Google results that include PowerPoint files?
   PowerPoint Business Plans
   Business Plans Power Points
   Business Plans:ppt
   Business Plans pptCorrect, following your search terms with a colon and the filename extension is the proper format for searching Google for files.Sorry, try again.
   
5. Google Scholar will help you find books and journal articles that can be used in academic papers.
   True
   False CorrectIncorrect

Please answer the following questions honestly, so that we can improve this module.

6. Is this your first time completing this module?
   Yes
   No
   
   
7. What was most/least helpful about this online session?
   
   
   
8. Do you have a better understanding of the different types of sources than you did before this online session?
   Worse 1 2 3 4 5 Better
   
   
9. Overall, how useful was this online session?
   Poor 1 2 3 4 5 Excellent