FTS: Managing People in the Public Sector: Web Research

You may need information from sources beyond the "traditional" library resources such as scholarly articles and books. Some questions are easier to answer through the web than others. If it has to do with current events, law, computers, popular culture, commercial products, organizations, or public affairs, the web offers a lot; if you're looking for scientific research or scholarly articles, then academic library databases are your best bet. Fortunately, there are ways to mine the web for the good stuff.

Ask yourself these questions to figure out where to look for the information you need:

• Whose voices are most likely to be discussing the issue?
• How would information on the issue likely be communicated or shared?
• What are the best ways to access information about the issue? Is information available through library resources? It it available on federal, state, or local websites? Are there individuals to whom you can reach out for more information about the issue and to see if they have any additional ideas of people or sources you can consult?

Librarians are happy to help you brainstorm what type of information you need, who might collect or disseminate it, and how you might access it. Just Ask Us!

The first question to ask is: should I use the web for this project or not? The web is great for some topics, but is not a good place to find literary criticism, scholarly analysis of social issues, or the kind of broad overview written by a noted scholar that a really good specialized encyclopedia can provide. In addition to its print resources, libraries often pay for resources that are accessed through the web; these aren't indexed in search engines. Some "free" sites for magazines and newspapers charge for using their archives; library databases offer them at no charge. Consider these steps as you plan a search:

• Think about what you need and which key words might describe it.
• Think about what organizations or government entities might provide information on your topic.
• Use what you find to refine your search (such as the name of an organization or a government agency).
• Limit a search to a given domain by including it in your search statement.For example, site:.gov will search for information on government websites. 
• Limit a search by date using the "show search tools" link to left of your Google results
• Google has a number of additional features on its advanced search screen, including limits by language, region and file type.
• Turn to Google Scholar or library databases for research-based sources.

Use these strategies as you sort through your results:

• Shorten a URL to get to a root page by deleting everything after the first slash.
• Follow links to find out about the page's author or sponsoring agency.
• Examine the URL to see where it originated. For example, URLs containing .k12 are hosted at elementary and secondary schools, so may be intended for a young audience; those ending in .gov are government agencies, so tend to be "official" information. Domains may include information about what country the site is from: .au for Australia, .uk for United Kingdom, and so on