Brainstorming with Google

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Getting Started: Using Google to Brainstorm

Research Topics

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Brainstorming a Topic: Looking for Ideas

• Think about a topic that interests you.

• Consider the following idea-starters:

– My friends and I like to argue about…

– Someone believes …; however, I believe …

– I think we should pass a law so that …

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GooglePros ConsExtensive search results Search results can be

overwhelming

Starting point for background information

Results filled with non-relevant items despite refining

Retrieve websites by scholars, experts

Retrieve websites by non-experts - Scholarship varies

Become familiar with topic NOT everything is available through Google

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WikipediaPros ConsAnyone can edit ANYONE can edit!

Possible starting point for unfamiliar topic

Information can change on daily basis - Superficial level of scholarship

Mine for search terms Inaccuracies (truthiness)

Covers a wide range of topics Wikilobbying (companies, politicians, etc. skew facts)

Some articles list bibliographies or references

Quality of articles inconsistent or biased

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Benefits of Google Searching

• Become more familiar with a topic

• Pick out search terms that can be used for

library searching

• Find bibliographies

• Google Scholar, Google Books…

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Connecting Your Search Terms

Google & Research Databases offer this type of searching. Databases may present this option differently.

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Searching Google More Effectively

• Limit your results by producer or organization: site: .org .edu .gov

• Refine search options

• Find recent websites - “climate change” 2008..2010

• Synonyms - ~film→ movies, movie, cinema

• Advanced search link

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Smarter Googling

Focus a Google search:

• site: -- limits results to certain sites or domains– american history / american history site:loc.gov – libertarian / libertarian site:edu

• intitle: -- limits results to pages with search terms in the page title– rosa parks king / intitle:"rosa parks" intitle:king– douglass abolition / intitle:douglass intitle:abolition

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Smarter Googling

Build from good results:

• link: -- discover what other sites link to a site– historymatters.gmu.edu– link:historymatters.gmu.edu

• related: -- discover other similar sites– related:loc.gov– related:snopes.com

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Googling continued→ Limitations• Quotation marks can be used around phrases

– “climate change” – but they might eliminate useful results if too specific

• barack hussein obama vs. “barack hussein obama”• Databases often DO require quotes around phrases.

• Synonyms ~ work well with one-word searches BUT not with phrase searching like “climate change”– Many databases will retrieve similar terms like global warming,

greenhouse effect…

• Other limitations…

• For more tips, see: http://bit.ly/moregoogle

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Limitations

Limitations of Google as a research tool

• Google’s index doesn’t include everything that is

online. (e.g., licensed resources)

• Searches often have overwhelming numbers of

results. Databases usually more focused.

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Limitations

Realities of the Web

• Most info on the Web is not scholarly

• Web is constantly in flux, being edited and

indexed; inaccurate to think of Google info as a

static “snapshot” of the Web

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Google Instant

• Released Sept. 8, 2010

• Revises results as you type

• More info:

– Introducing Google Instant (YouTube)

– Could Reinvent Channel Flipping (wired.com)

– Is this the best they could come up with? (

telegraph.co.uk)

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Google Scholar

• Google’s index of scholarly literature

• Set Google preferences to get Mason resources

(“Find it@GM”)

• Google Scholar is one way to access resources,

not the way.

• Is the “cited by” information useful?

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Google Books

• Useful in conjunction with library catalog (linked

from catalog record)

• May include book summaries, reviews, table of

contents, selected pages, etc.

• Links to purchase options BUT the library can

often provide it for free.

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Can you find…

Authoritative information about the

species of bird called the Baltimore oriole

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Can you find…

Authoritative information about the

species of bird called the Baltimore oriole

• Baltimore oriole –baseball• Baltimore oriole birds –baseball• Baltimore oriole +habitat• Baltimore oriole +plumage etc.

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Can you find…

Reputable academic discussions

(essays, articles, etc.) about Lady Gaga

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Can you find…

Reputable academic discussions

(essays, articles, etc.) about Lady Gaga

• "lady gaga" site:edu• link:ladygaga.com site:edu

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Can you find…

Information about George Mason

(the man); limited to only .edu or .org

sites, not .com sites

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Can you find…

Information about George Mason (the

man); limited to only using .edu or .org

sites, not .com sites • george mason site:edu site:org• (“george mason” site:edu) OR (“george mason” site:org)

• “george mason” site:edu|site:org

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Can you find…

You’re building a model of an 18th-century

sailing ship. What is the fore topmast

studding sail and where does it go?

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Can you find…

You’re building a model of an 18th-century

sailing ship. What is the fore topmast

studding sail and where does it go?

• sailboat diagram

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Brainstorming Alternative: InfoGuides

• Starting point for ideas

• By subject/discipline

• Reliable sources evaluated by librarians

• Variety of sources: books, articles, images, DVDs,

primary sources

• Resources you only have access while students

at Mason

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Library Websitehttp://library.gmu.edu

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Library InfoGuidesPros ConsResources selected by librarians Not all resources full text

Created for specific academic subjects & classes / Resources organized by subject

May not always know the correct word/phrase to use

Link to library catalogs & databases

Resources→ Not as many as Google or Wikipedia

Access to resources NOT available in Google/Wikipedia

Not every resource every published

Scholarly resources from various time periods