Answers to Go
San Marcos Public Library
625 E. Hopkins St.
512-393-8200
Q. I am often overwhelmed when searching for information on the Internet. How can I improve my online search skills?
A. Searching the Internet can be quite overwhelming. You enter a word or a phrase into a search engine and receive almost endless results, not all of which are relevant. So how can you refine your search to get the information you’re looking for? Here are a few tips:
Be specific. The more relevant words you use in your search, the more successful your results will be. For example, searching ‘tacos’ when you’re looking for the best tacos in San Marcos would provide too many unnecessary results. However, modifying it slightly to include the word ‘best’ or type of tacos you want and specific location you're seeking is usually enough to provide satisfying results.
Another helpful web search trick is using addition (+) and subtraction (-) to make search results more relevant. Say you’re searching “mustang,” you may get results for both the car made by Ford or the horse. If you want to filter out results that refer to the Ford Mustang, you can search “mustang -Ford.” However, you might still find results that use the word mustang, but are not specifically referring to horses. If you only want results that refer to mustang horses, you can search “mustang +horse.”
Use the tabs at the top of your search engine. If you’re using Google’s search engine, you should see All, Maps, Images, Videos, News, and More. These tabs can help you define what kind of search you need to do. Other search engines should have comparable tabs. If you need images, use the Images tab. If you are looking for a recent news article, use the News tab.
When using the Internet, you must remember it lacks any kind of quality control. The burden of determining the value of information found on the Internet is on the user. So, once you’ve gotten your search results, take a few minutes to evaluate the websites for currency, relevance, authority, accuracy and purpose (or as I like to call it, the CRAAP Test).
Ask yourself the following questions: When was the information published or posted? Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question? Who is the author/publisher/source/sponsor? Is the author qualified to write on the topic? Can you verify any of the information in another source or from personal knowledge? Are there spelling, grammar, or other typographical errors? What is the purpose of the information: to inform, teach, sell, entertain, or persuade? Is the information fact, opinion, or propaganda?
Good luck with Internet searching! When in doubt, don’t hesitate to call the San Marcos Public Library and ask for help at 512-393-8200.
