Websites are the most accessible sources for research, having a format with the ability to reach across the globe to people with internet access. Convenience is a major reason for using websites in research, and many journals, publishers, organizations, and authors have taken this opportunity to reach out to the public by utilizing websites and other digital means. Websites are also a major gateway to publications from non-profit organizations and government agencies.
But with convenience comes risk for users -- you have to make sure you evaluate sources thoroughly, particularly sources online! Why? Because both individuals and groups can create websites and write about anything they choose--whether or not they have the education, training, or experience to make them experts.
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You can limit your Google search results to specific URL domains, like .gov (government); .edu (education), .org (organization), or .mil (military).
Example: I want to find government sources about music therapy statistics.
What to type in the search box: "music therapy" statistics site:.gov
You can use the "site search" tip to search for something in an entire website!
After you've done a search, click on the Settings link, then click on Advanced search
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The default search is Google Web. You can also search for Images, Videos, News, Blogs, and more. Look at the top of the screen, under the search box, after you have done a search.
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Phrase searching works in almost all library databases and search engines! And remember, you just want to put quotation marks around specific phrases -- two or more words together -- and not entire sentences.
You also don’t need quotation marks around single words, like teens. Also, capitalization is NOT important, but SPELLING is.
Example below for the keyword phrase, "music therapy":
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Narrow down results by combining different keywords. Use Boolean operators (aka "Boolean logic") to combine keywords.
AND:
OR:
NOT:
The image below shows an example search in a database:
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Truncation means "to shorten," which can be useful to find variations of a word. Use an asterisk,*, following the root of the word to find all variations of that word, including singular and plural.
This finds environments, environmental, environmentalist, etc.
Truncating the word education* would find variations of that word, including education, educational, special education, etc.
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Look for ways to limit, or filter, your results from the beginning and SAVE TIME! These kinds of search limiters are usually found in the "Advanced Search" options of databases, like ProQuest or Academic Search Complete, as well as search engines like Google.
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