Boolean Searches
Use AND to find all your search terms
migrant AND labour AND remittances
Use OR to find any of your search terms
migration OR remittances
Search for exact phrases using quotations " " (this is important to prevent confusion with "economic development".)
“development economics”
Use truncation (*) to find different word endings and plurals
econom* finds economist, economic, economics, economy, economical…
Use the Wildcard (?) to find variations in spelling
labo?r finds labor and labour
Use brackets ( ) for complex search statements
“development economics” AND (migration OR remittances)
Are you feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of results from a simple Google search? Remember that there are a number of useful alternatives. Do yourself a favour and try these when you are next searching:
RefSeek is a web search engine for students and researchers that aims to make academic information easily accessible to everyone. RefSeek searches more than one billion documents, including web pages, books, encyclopedias, journals, and newspapers. RefSeek's unique approach offers students comprehensive subject coverage without the information overload of a general search engine—increasing the visibility of academic information and compelling ideas that are often lost in a muddle of sponsored links and commercial results ("About").
A Google alternative safe search engine for students offering information and reference sites: art, social sciences,social issues,social problems, history, ...
Wolfram Alpha is a powerful search tool. It uses a complex set of algorithms to answer questions or calculations that you input into the search box. Type in a city and you will be greeted with maps and more demographics than you will ever need. Enter equations, dates, math formulas, or just about anything else, and you will be amazed at the results that are returned. You can find everything from the nutritional value of an apple, to the real time position of the International Space Station as it orbits Earth. (BrightHub Education)
findingDulcinea | Online Guides | Internet Library | Web Resources via kwout
FindingDulcinea presents only credible, high-quality and trustworthy Web sites, saving time for the novice and the experienced user alike.
Source Evaluation Checklist
Use this checklist which is adapted from the Cornell Digital Literacy Resource to evaluate the information sources you discover as a result of performing a search. Check the items in each of the following categories:
Purpose
• What is the purpose or motivation for the source? (E.g., educational, commercial, entertainment, or promotional.)
• Is it trying to sell you something? How easy is it to differentiate advertisement from content in the source?
• Based on your knowledge, is the information fact, opinion, or propaganda?
• Who is the intended audience for the information, and how is this fact reflected in the organization and presentation of the material?
Authority
• Is the author identifiable?
• What is the author's background? (E.g., experience, credentials, and occupation, and has he or she published anything else on the topic?)
• Does the author cite his or her sources?
Currency
• When was the resource last updated or revised, and how often is it updated?
Reliability
How stable does the resource seem to be? The resource’s dependability (particularly in the case of Web sites) is important if it is going to be cited as a source or recommended for use by others.
• For Web sites, do most of the links on the page work?
• From your evaluation of currency and authority, do you think the resource will be there the next time you visit it?
Coverage
• What information is included or omitted?
• Is the resource completed or under construction?
These are not the only criteria you will need to look at. Depending on what your professor has asked you for and on your research needs, you may need to look for certain kinds of material. In academic research in particular, your professor may ask you to find scholarly, peer-reviewed, or primary sources.
