How to Do Effective Researches Online

Ways and Methods to Do a High Quality Research Online

One of the most valuable skills a person can learn and develop is the ability to research the Internet. Most people think of the Internet as having a vast amount of information where it’s difficult to find something. All it takes is learning the basics and using some of the tips shown below. People can even search on the Internet for “How to use the Internet.” These skills can grow to be utilized correctly to find just what they’re looking for.  

Unique terms – When a search is started, it’s amazing how many pages show. By using unique words that are precise to the subject of the search the results will be better.

Refine the search – If the term being used has different meanings, use the minus operator (-) so any unwanted sites won’t appear in the results.  An example would be if a woman wants to go to a salon that only does hair:  Beauty salon-nails-spa

Exact phrases – By using quotation marks before and after the phrase, the results are narrowed considerably.  This search will only show the results for that exact phrase in the exact order.

Refrain from using common words – To save time, don’t use the words a, an, and the, because the search engine usually ignores them.  Only use them when using quotation marks.

Forget about Capitalization – To the search engine, it doesn’t matter if the words are lowercase or uppercase.

Only use suffixes if necessary – It’s almost always best to use the base word like “dog” and not “dogs” or “look” and not “looked”.  An example would be entering “dog run” when searching for “dogs running”.  In this case, the suffix is needed.

Use the AutoComplete – This will display suggestions for the search which could be related.  Or, by disabling the AutoComplete, the display in the drop-down menu will show previous searches that may apply.

Searches can be customized, and the results can be limited to save time.  Try using some of the tips shown here.

• To include a common word in the search, use the (+) before that word.
• To save time, change the Search Settings and lower the number of results.
• To refine a search, use the Advanced Search to search by several different criteria.
• To find related sites, an example would be related:www.websitename.com. 
• For more results, a site search on the sources website is helpful.

Browser history – When doing research, there may come a time when a previous website becomes relevant.  Look at the browser history to locate that web page.

Try something else – After spending a great deal of time researching and no appropriate results are found – make a change.  Try using another search engine.

Google “link” – To find out if the authors of the websites are highly respected by their peers, find the backlinks through Google link.  Simply enter “link.www.(Web address) and the backlinks will be listed.

Choosing a Web Browser – Three of the top web browsers are Chrome, Firefox, and Opera as the speed is fast, and the memory is good. 

• They will open several pages at once
• Easy and fast to mark favorites or bookmarks
• Easily recalls history
• Pages are loaded quickly

To research deeper on the Internet here are a few ideas that may help.

Nowadays, almost every business-related database is no longer free except through the use of a card from the library.  Libraries usually pay to have the right to use expensive databases that can also be used at home or in the office. These sites accept the barcode on the card as the key to unlocking the database. There are several useful places, and these are just a few of them.

• Reference USA – U.S. businesses (over 12 million)
• Academic Search Premier – Academic study of all areas with full text
• Learning Express Library – How to prepare text for college prep, academic, etc.
• Corporate Resource Net – Over 1,300 journals and magazines plus 5,000 or the largest companies in the world.
• Encyclopedia Britannica – This is a continuously updated full version.

Most people are averse to paying for their research paper, but sometimes the cost is worth the benefits. Questia charges $120 for one year’s usage and is well worth the money. Their library is like none other with books numbering over 47,000 and other resources that can’t be found on the Internet – anywhere. Users can print text and Questia will search and highlight information pertaining to the search.  As a bonus, newspapers, journals, and magazines are also in their database.

People can also go beyond the leading search engines into the Invisible or Deep Web to search further and deeper. These search engines are slower, but they are very specific.

• Technical searches – Scirus
• Searching in the past – Internet Archive
• Precise areas of the Internet – Advanced Clusty Searching
• More knowledge with less commerce – Surfwax

Search engines are great tools but are only useful to the person with the knowledge and skills to research properly. The most relevant information is usually at the top in the search engines, but the research can’t be too wide or vague. It’s up to the researcher to learn the ways to make the searches as effective and fast as possible. An expert at skilled research has a power that can never be undervalued.