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Research Tips for Databases
Research Tips for Databases
Why use a database?
There are a few different reasons why databases are better than google for research. Here are the most important reasons:
Someone else has already done the hard work of verifying the accuracy of the information - if you research on Google, you have to put a lot of extra time into verifying that the source Google has provided you is accurate. This means that the databases are generally very reliable - the school pays money to access them. The reason they cost money is because the database companies have to pay tons of staff members to verify the accuracy of all of their content.
There are no criteria for building a website and having it pop up in Google searches - the algorithms Google uses for finding information can’t & don’t test to ensure there’s no accuracy or bias.
As a matter of fact, studies have shown that the Google algorithms are biased and distorted, with one study revealing racism in certain Google search results.
Results from databases are really easy to filter for certain criteria (like if you only want certain publications and time periods), once you know how.
Getting Started with Databases
Getting Started with Databases
Databases require slightly different search strategies than Google - for example, you can't just type a full sentence question into a database search bar and come up with relevant results - but once you get used to using databases, it's very easy.
Research Tips for Google
Research Tips for Google
How can I verify that what I find on Google is accurate?
Make sure the source you’re looking at is from a reputable news agency, university or organization
Always follow the “link backs” to verify the original information source. If an article does not have any link backs, and it’s not clear where the information came from, disregard the source - it is likely not reputable.
If it's a news article, you can double check for accuracy or bias through All Sides, Politifact, Factcheck.org and Snopes
Follow the suggestions in this Google Rules of Thumb document
DON’T use sources such as:
✖ News Aggregators (websites that repackage the news into listicles, etc)
✖ Blogs (unless you can verify that the person or entity writing the blog is an expert)
✖ Websites that don’t have a clear and trustworthy “about” section
Advanced Googling Strategies - use these hacks to find *exactly* what you're looking for!
Tutorial Videos
Searching to exclude terms (minus)
Site Search (Limit results to those from one specific site)
Using Wikipedia
Using Wikipedia
In high school and college, most instructors will not accept Wikipedia as a valid research source for a paper. This is because the information on Wikipedia is “crowd sources” - anyone can make a wikipedia account at any time and edit or update any Wikipedia entry. For this reason, Wikipedia has gained a reputation as providing unreliable information.
However, Wikipedia has continued to build in a lot of checks and balances to their system, and studies have shown that their information is about as accurate as other encyclopedias such as Brittanica, so Wikipedia can be a great place to start when you’re just beginning your research and trying to find out basic facts, so that you can develop questions or ideas about a research topic. Even though Wikipedia has built in a lot of checks and balances and is usually very reliable, people still occasionally update the entries with false information, and it can take a while to get corrected - this, along with the bad reputation Wikipedia had before, is why you can’t use it as a reference in your project or paper. In fact, here’s a great Wikipedia entry about Wikipedia hoaxes!
Wikipedia can also point you to some sources that may be valid research sources, because Wikipedia entries cite, and often link to, their references at the bottom of each entry (see example below).
Citation Guidelines
Citation Guidelines
MLA Citation - This document walks you through everything you need to know about MLA Citation. If you have additional questions, ask Ms. Kneeland!
Purdue OWL Citation Guide - If you understand the basics of citation, this guide explains the proper format for citing everything and anything.
Citation Machine - Here's a citation generator that you can use for free. Always make sure to double check the citations generated by any automated citation website (like this or Easy Bib), because often they will omit information or include typos and formatting errors. it is up to you to fix those errors!
You also have access to Noodle Tools, a really powerful tool to create citations and organize your research, through your Google account. Ask Ms. Kneeland if you need help using Noodle Tools!
Study Tips
Study Tips
Note taking
Five Note Taking Methods - Examples of each style with instructions on how to use them
How to Take Study Notes: 5 Effective Note Taking Methods Article with definitions and examples of each style
How to Take Great Notes (video) Why great notes matter, how they help you, tips start at 2:09
How to take Cornell (Two Column) Notes (video) Cornell notes are a SUPER common style of note taking
Visual note taking (video)
Studying & Test Taking
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