The Internet as a source of research information - some tips

It's common to hear the Internet, and particularly the world wide web (WWW) described as a vast electronic library. The first two words of this description are definitely true, the Internet is vast, and it is electronic - but it is only a library in the loosest possible sense of the word. Finding information on the web can be hard because no central organisation is responsible for cataloguing its contents, and unlike a library, there are no librarians to arrange the information in a logical way. It's also much easier to publish something on the web than in print, and as a result much of the information accessible is not necessarily reliable. But research using the WWW can still be an effective way of gaining information. Use these tips to make your search easier.

1. Be sceptical about the information you find.
Don't take it at face value, try and find out who posted the information and why. Generally the larger the organisation the more reliable the information, for instance the BBCs site is governed by the same codes of journalism as its TV and radio news. If possible try and triangulate information by finding another source which confirms your finding.

2. Use a UK search engine if you want to limit your search to British sites. Many search engines have a dialogue box, next to where you type your search word, selecting UK only can reduce the number of hits and make information easier to find.

3. Choose your search terms carefully. There isn't room here to go into the complexities of searching the web. But as a rule you need to choose search terms which bring up a manageable number of hits (links to pages). Searching with a term like "education" will bring tens of millions of hits, whereas "post 16 education" will bring a smaller amount. But remember to try related words, for the previous example you could also try "post compulsory education", "tertiary education" and "FE Colleges". Finding stuff on the web takes practice, if you draw a blank don't give up, it's worth having another go.

4. Keep records of the addresses (URLs) and dates of the web pages you visit. You will need this information if you quote from a page and need to reference it. To find out how to do this click here.

5. Don't rely solely on the Internet for your research. Remember that the library will contain vital books and journals which are not on the web. Use the Internet as an additional source of information, if you quote only web sources in your essay then it will not be a rounded piece of research.