Research Paper Writing Tools: Pt. 3- The Internet
Transcript
In this part of the three part series, I want to talk about utilizing the internet for your research.
Again, this is a three part series called "Tools for writing research papers" In the first part, I talked about utilizing the library. In the second part, I talked about utilizing the librarian.
And in this part, we are going to talk about utilizing the internet.
Now there are five sources I wanted to talk to you about when using the internet. But before I get going on this, I want to emphasize the importance of double checking all the information that you research on the internet and that you find on the internet.
The internet has become such a powerful tool for research, and it is getting better and better, but it's important that you double check that you are getting the correct material that is actually right.
The Five Sources for Research Paper Writing Using The Internet
So, to start out, the first source is Wikipedia.
Wikipedia is getting better and better and better everyday. It is growing in topics. Chances are if you're researching something, you can find tons of information about it at wikipedia. It is incredible.
Now, the thing about wikipedia is, that as you are reading along, there will often be a footnote to a citation below. Now that citation is actually where that author got the information that they are writing about. So it's credible.
That's even better for you for two reasons. Number one, it's credible, and number 2, that's another source you can use for your research because they already found it for you. A powerful, powerful tool wikipedia. Again, double check that information and make sure it's correct.
Number 2, is You Tube.
Have you ever used You Tube for research. It's a very interesting concept, but it has powerful results. There are experts, professors, professionals who have researched these topics you're researching and they have made videos about it explaining their research or explaining the topic better.
This is not only good for your research, but if you have to give a presentation, this might be very, very good in driving a specific point home, because there might be a video of someone who just explains it very very well. And you just include that in a presentation. Very powerful.
Number 3 is using search engines.
Now the search and engines are getting better and better every single day at brining back high quality, relevant results. Because that's their job. They're getting better at it because that's their job. Now you can use these search engines.
I would highly recommend using their advanced search options so you can narrow your research. That way you're targeting in, focusing in on just those results that you want about your research. Very powerful.
The number 4 source is news sources.
So these are news websites. They are providing news. They are reporting breaking news all the time. The thing powerful about this is that you can actually show in your research paper, from these news resources, of how the particular topic you are researching is affecting the world today. Super powerful.
Now, the way that you can do this is going to the news website, looking for a search bar. It's often at the top in one of the corners. Type in your research topic and seeing what comes up. Now you may find something, you may not, depending on what you are researching. But, the point is that if you find something, and that it's relevant today, [it's] an incredible resource for you research.
The last source I wanted to talk about are blogs and forums.
And these are specific blogs and forums that are based around your topic of research or that are related to your topic of research. The reason why I bring this up (and you'll have to find blogs and forums for the search engines, so make sure to use that advanced search option).
But as you find these, you are going to find people who are not only knowledgeable about the topic you are researching but are very opinionated and don't mind sharing those opinions. That is awesome, because then you can use that information to maybe get new viewpoints you hadn't considered before. Very, very, very good.
Again, make sure you are always citing your work.
So again, to review, when you utilize the internet, there are five sources that I would recommend:
Number 1, Wikipedia.
Number 2, You Tube.
Number 3, the search engines.
Number 4, news sources.
And number 5, blogs and forums.
I hope you have enjoyed this three part series, Tools for writing research papers. And I hope that you utilize them and make them a part of your research so that your research is powerful, it is stronger, and it is better.
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