CGGS Senior School

Online Research Tips

Keep it simple

• Use simple search terms that are not too wordy. Less is more
• Start broad, try not to be too specific with your search terms to start. Then you can narrow your search once you find the most relevant aspects of your search (e.g. World War 2 bombing Britain, the Blitz rather than Bombing of London)

Choose words carefully

• Choose words that are likely to appear on the site you're looking for (e.g. my head hurts vs headache. Headache is will a word medical sites would use.)

Mix and match your key phrases 

• Try a few different query phrases to focus in on the information you need. Keywords are important as they tell the search engine what information you want. Ask yourself what words will appear on the page that would have the perfect answer, or how someone else would write it.

Search for an exact match

• Use double quotations to search for the exact order. It ensures you will get only results that include all those words in that order (e.g. red blood cells vs “red blood cells”)

Use an asterisk if you don’t know the word or want to search variations of a word

• If you add an asterisk to the end of a word you can search all variations of a word or date (e.g. Austra* or Cold War 195*)

Don’t include the answer in your question

• You might search for something when you already suspect the answer. If you include the answer in the query it may sway the search results toward what you think the answer is because it is looking for that answer (e.g. “weight of golden retrievers” rather than “do golden retrievers weigh 40kg”).

Creative Commons image searching

• Creative Commons is a set of licences which creators attach to their work. All Creative Commons licences allow the material to be used for free for educational purposes.
• You can search the Creative Commons website https://search.creativecommons.org/ for images and more
• Finding Creative Commons images in Google.
• Do an image search in Google. At the top of the results list click on Tools then Usage Rights. Select Creative Commons licences from the dropdown menu.

Do one more search

• The first results on the page is not always the right answer. One simple search on a complex topic may not be enough to uncover the correct answer to your question. Conducting two or three searches offers a number of perspectives and credible sources for a well-rounded view on the subject.
• Use the search bar in websites (usually located in the top right corner of the screen) to search for key words within that website.

Website Evaluation

Check the credibility of your sources