Finding Resources on the Web
There are lots of good reasons to search the internet, but not everything you find online is good information. Sometimes information is only presented from one perspective, or is deliberately misleading. Other times, what you find may not be from a reliable source, and your tutors may not want you using it in an academic assignment. Learning to be critical about the information you find online is important, and it can take time.
So, how can you tell what's good and what isn't? Watch below to find out!
Still not sure about that website you found? Try using The CRAAP Test to see if you can use it for your assignment.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar is the academic part of Google. You can search just like on normal Google, but you'll find academic information to use in your assignments. Plus, you can find journal articles from Wintec Library in Google Scholar! Just click the Wintec Article Finder links you see when you do a search.
If you're at Wintec, click the link below.
At home, or on your own phone or laptop or tablet, you need to follow a few steps to see Wintec Article Finder links when you search Google Scholar.
Don't forget about OneSearch!
Google Scholar can help you find useful stuff, but the best place to find academic journal articles is OneSearch.
YouTube
YouTube is an awesome resource,but there's so much on YouTube that it's often really overwhelming, and it can be hard to know where to start, or how to find the good stuff.
Here are a few tips to start you off!
1. Create a YouTube account
If you don't already have one, you can get a free YouTube account. It's a quick process, and it means you can subscribe to videos, 'like' videos, mark videos to watch later, and make playlists of your favourites.
2. Use Advanced Search
Advanced Search has a LOT of options that can be really useful in finding the videos you really want to watch.
3. Change your settings to be from the country you want to see the most videos from
If you want to see New Zealand content, change the settings to say 'New Zealand', and you'll see a lot more Kiwis in your search results.
4. Look for names you know, and see how many people have subscribed to an account
If a university or a big organisation is the one putting the video on YouTube, it's more likely to be genuine, trustworthy information. If you've never heard of someone on YouTube, hit up Google, search their username, and see who they are.
5. Google for 'Top 10' or 'Best' lists - and then click the 'Videos' tab in Google!
The internet is filled to the brim with people listing the best and worst of things - and it can totally help you out. Looking for lists f other people's favourites in Google will get you heaps of results, and is a great place to start. Then you can either just sift through the results there, or go straight to YouTube videos talking about the same thing by clicking the 'Videos' tab right in Google!
6. Follow the trail of videos you like
If you find something you're really into, check out that account, and see what other videos they have. See if they've collaborated with anyone, or if the Related Videos has useful stuff you might want to look at. Look at what they've called their videos, and try searching words they've used in their video titles to find similar videos from other people.
Remember, the internet is only as smart as the search terms and keywords you put into it, so think of as many different words as you can for what you want to find, and keep trying!
Blogs & Apps & Social Media
Whatever you're interested in, there's someone who blogs about it - and there's probably a smartphone app to help you do it. There are experts and amateurs blogging about every aspect of everything, and apps upon apps upon apps for hair, make-up, style, and more. Finding what you like is something only you can do, but here are a few tips on how to search for them:
Just like for YouTube channels, there are plenty of lists of great bloggers and great useful apps for you to check our online. Google for these and see where you get!
Browse through social media - especially Twitter, YouTube, and Tumblr - to find people with the same interests or in the same situation as you, and then check out their websites, or their other social media. One of the best things about our interconnected world is the amount of useful information our constant internet activity produces, and whatever you're trying to learn about, you can bet that there that others are keen to share their knowledge. Be careful about what you put online yourself, and go exploring.
Not everything on the internet it true, and you have to be your own fact-checker. Make sure several reliable sources are saying the same thing before you believe information you didn't find in a published book or a peer-reviewed journal article, and learn how to find good sources and how to discount bad ones quickly. It can be overwhelming at first, but it will become second nature soon!
There are plenty more resources out there - so get looking!
