Using the Internet for Academic Research
Hasting
You are likely to find some of the latest information on a topic on the internet simply because publishing on the web is so simple. Anyone can do it, and herein lies the problem. Sources appropriate for use in academic research are few and far between. Some of the best sources are college and university websites. Their internet addresses end in .edu. Another reliable source is the U.S. government whose websites all end in .gov. All others must be evaluated by you the researcher. That puts the responsibility for their accuracy and honesty on you.
Some ways to be a responsible researcher:
*How recently has the site been updated? If it’s been a long time, you can bet the information is not current and the publisher may be gone.
*Web sites are rarely refereed or reviewed, as are scholarly books and journals, so you will need to determine the website’s point of view and ferret out evidence of bias. It is not unheard of for a student to discover a site about literature that is being run by skinheads who believe in censorship of the very literature they are discussing. As a researcher, it is your responsibility to look at the website closely for indications that it is not what it seems.
*The lack of an author is a common problem on the internet. You must find out who the sponsor or producer of the site is. Is there a way to contact anyone associated with the site? Is the site address just someone’s name? An unidentified author is a bad sign because it means whoever he or she is they do not want to be identified with their site and neither do you!
*Who is the website’s audience? If it is academic, the site will be well organized, easy to navigate, contain working links to other reputable sites and be comprehensive in its coverage of a subject. These are all signs that this is a site that is an important project for someone in the academic community and that they take pride and responsibility in making it available to further the research of others.
*Googling a topic is a wonderful way to start your internet search, but it is only the beginning. Google and other search engines are going to give you massive numbers of sources, many will not be on point, some will be nothing more than someone else’s memo’s on the subject; in other words, most will be totally useless to your research.
*If, after going through a lengthy process, a site makes the grade, you can be sure that it will work to support the argument you are making in your research, rather than making you look foolish.
