Boolean Operators |
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AND
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OR
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NOT
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Not all resources you find are created equal! Use the CRAAP test to critically evaluate sources, especially those found online.
Currency
Relevancy
Authority
Accuracy
Purpose
Source: The CRAAP Test was developed by librarians at Meriam Library, California Statue University, Chico.
A simple Google search can return millions of results in a fraction of a second. How can you refine your search to find narrower, more focused, higher quality results?
site:.org |
site:.gov |
site:.edu |
Top-level domain names (the two, three, or four letters at the end of a URL) can tell you a lot about who controls the site and the types of content available there.
.com | .gov | .edu | .org |
---|---|---|---|
This is an unrestricted domain. Anyone can create and own a .com site. | This domain is only for governmental use, and is almost exclusively used by US governmental entities and agencies. | This domain is only for education use, and is almost exclusively used by US colleges and universities. | This is an unrestricted domain, but is often used by non-profit organizations. |
site:uark.edu |
site:ed.gov |
site:npr.org |
When searching for information within a specific website, you can limit your search to that site. This can be very useful for locating resources from professional association websites or even government sites.
"reading intervention" |
"Every Student Succeeds Act" |
"total water intake" |
Use quotation marks around phrases to search for words in the order they are typed. Use this technique to keep important words together and search them as a phrase instead of individual terms.
-constructivist |
-site:pinterest.com |
-"Besty DeVos" |
Add a minus sign directly before a word, phrase (in quotes) or site: restriction to remove that term from your results. This is very helpful when your results are clogged with unrelated, extraneous results.