What will be your personal approach to conducting academic web searches?

Answer

First, use a variety of engines. Google.com is the largest and will often provide the most hits. Altavista.com is also excellent for academic subjects. Yahoo.com, being a directory, gives user ratings. Depending on the academic subject you are investigating, there may be specialty search engines devoted to that subject. Try your subject + "search engine."

Second, be a savvy consumer of the hits returned. Sites with the extension .edu or .ac are academic institutions, so if a professor has posted the information, you should be able to trust it, but be wary if it is from a student at the institution. Sites that end with .org are generally nonprofits, like the American Lung Association, and are usually very reliable. Be wary of .com sites since they are commercial sites and may be more interested in selling you something than providing objective, factual knowledge.

Third, try to sustantiate any information uncovered. If two different sites say the same thing, it's more likely true.

In a final irony, most teachers and professors prefer students not to use information found at Wikipedia.com in their research papers. It's fine to use Wiki as a starting point, but be sure to substantiate any information.

That should get you started. Happy surfing!

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