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ENG 1061/1070 English Composition/Effective Speaking: Using the Internet

Getting started with background research for composition and speech topics.

Advanced searching

Try using Advanced Search when you search Google. You can specify a domain, like .edu.

To get to Advanced search, do a search, then click on Settings.

Other tips

  • quotes ("") to search for an exact phrase
  • substitute an asterisk (*) for an unknown word
  • minus (-word) to eliminate certain results
  • tilde (~word) before a word to include all of its synonyms
  • site:word to search for a keyword only within that particular website
  • site:.edu or site:.gov to search within specific domains
  • define: word
  • intitle: word
  • inurl: word

About wikipedia

See a video for background on Wikipedia and considerations about it as a source for research

   Wikipedia:  Beneath the Surface
from North Carolina State University Libraries

Google like a pro

Library resources and the Internet

Google vs. library resources

Why use library resources when you could "Google" it?  Here are some reasons.

About library resources

About the free Internet

Library's purpose (for decades!) is to provide materials for your learning needs

Many purposes for web content, for profit, for politics, for personal agendas, etc. 

No charge to use library resources, but you did pay already with your tuition...Subscription databases and books, etc., cost money and are worth it. You get what you pay for...lots of good quality information is *not* provided free on the Internet. Interlibrary loan offered at no charge.

Often asked to pay for articles on "free" Internet

Library resources reviewed by editors, publishers, librarians. Published material goes through editing and publishing process, adds credibility.

Much information on the Web--no review process!

Library resources are organized for accessibility

The Internet--no organization, no quality control.

Personal assistance using the library! Friendly library staff!

Time often wasted sorting through Google search results.

Citation information often provided.

Internet sources often hard to verify or attribute. 

Google Scholar

For scholarly sources

Also see the Research databases tab on this guide for subscription sources of scholarly information
 

"From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites. Google Scholar helps you find relevant work across the world of scholarly research."

Google Scholar

To set Google Scholar to link to Castleton's journal holdings:

  1. Go into Scholar Preferences
  2. Add Castleton to your Library Links
  3. Click on Save Preferences

Or, use Castleton's Journal Titles A-Z List to check for availability.

In your search results, click on

for a formatted citation like this:

"Cited by" shows how often this source was cited by other sources in Google Scholar.  Click on "Cited by..." to see sources that cite this one.