Tacoma Community College Library: SCI 105 Stave: Google/web searching

Domain searches using the Google search engine

“Free-range” Web sources

Universities/colleges [.edu], the U.S. Government [.gov], and some non-profit agencies [.org] often have great science information. Caveat: The current U.S. political climate is more polarized than ever regarding climate change. For .gov sources keep in mind that recent restrictions have been placed on some agencies for conducting research, and developing and sharing new climate change information. In addition, some .org agencies are more likely to contain highly biased information. Watch out for dramatic, charged language, and claims without clear citation to where their information comes from.
Search Google for specific ‘domains’ like this: your search term site:.edu, site:.gov, or site:.org

In addition, you can also search for information from other countries more easily by doing a country domain search, such as site:.uk. Keep in mind that your instructor will need to be able to read in the language of any document you find. Don’t know a country code? Google internet country domains

Find web sites by asking, "Who cares about this topic?"

Locating the Useful Resources Online

Ask yourself, "who cares about this topic?" By thinking about this question, you may be able to conduct Google searches to locate organizational websites with relevant information.

You can often find large organizations (think tanks, nonprofit agencies, support groups) by doing a search like this in Google, Bing or other search engines:

Example:

(click on image to enlarge)

This will usually result in links for several of the largest organizations that focus on your topic. Try it using the search below

Searching Google effectively

Evaluating sources

Things to Consider When Evaluating Sources

Be on the alert for red flags if ...

there are no authors, creators, publishers, or organizations listed
there is no way to contact anyone
there is no mission statement, goal, or background info
there are no dates or copyright
there are broken links or images (for online sources)
major spelling and grammar errors
the title doesn't seem to match the content (especially for online media or websites)
there are bad production values (static, no sound, shaky camera work, etc.). Professional videos in particular should look professional. If you see a video that looks unprofessional, then it was probably uploaded illegally!

Image source: Red-flag icons created by Freepik - Flaticon