Clint Hamada's List: MediaLiteracy/Search

• Don't just type into Google the first thing that comes to your mind.
•   Use combinations of several keywords.  Then, on most search engines, you can narrow your search by using common words like AND, OR, NOT, or by using quote marks to show you are looking for an exact phrase
• Be skeptical; you want to find the best information you can, rather than the first thing that “looks good” or “sounds good.”
• Many schools offer access to remarkable databases that may be a much better place for you to start your research. Sure, they may be a little harder to start using, but they may help you find the credible information they need more a lot more quickly than any search engine will.
• You should also start with the search engine that makes the most sense for your  search - this isn't always Google or Bing
• The best search results are often not at the top of the page
• Thus, results near the top of a search results page may not be useful, while the  great sites that make your paper standout may be buried several pages deep
• The best research sources you can find online will be primary sources, such as newspaper and magazine accounts or letters, diaries, films or photographs written or recorded at the time of the event
• With primary sources, you won’t have to worry about information getting  distorted from one interpretation to another
• use the tips in this  article to help you find out if you are looking at the original publisher of an  article or an online copycat:  Finding  the Real Source of Your Source
  
• When you visit a web site, visit the home page and the About Us page to  determine what the site is really about
• When you visit a web site, visit the home page and the About Us page to determine what the site is really about.
• One "red flag" that we have spotted in our work is that Web sites who names  describe their product often cannot be trusted
• One "red flag" that we have spotted in our work is that Web sites who names describe their product often cannot be trusted.
• Wikipedia's contributors are anonymous; you do not know anything about them or  their credentials. It may be a place to do your "pre-research" to find keywords  to search on, but before you use it for more, read "Top  10 Reasons Why Students Cannot Cite or Rely on Wikipedia."
• Wikipedia's contributors are anonymous; you do not know anything about them or their credentials. It may be a place to do your "pre-research" to find keywords to search on, but before you use it for more, read "Top 10 Reasons Why Students Cannot Cite or Rely on Wikipedia."
• UC Berkeley Library offers a slightly more  advanced guide to evaluating Web sites
• So always check the dates of your sources. If you can't tell when a source was  written, then keep looking until you find a good source about the topic that  does have a recent date, so you can see if anything has changed
• So always check the dates of your sources. If you can't tell when a source was written, then keep looking until you find a good source about the topic that does have a recent date, so you can see if anything has changed.
• f you are writing about a historic topic, you should make sure to include primary source documents, such as newspaper and magazine accounts written at the time of the event.
• when the ads begin to be mixed in with the site content, you may find that the  content is not trustworthy
• when the ads begin to be mixed in with the site content, you may find that the content is not trustworthy. 

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