UK Research Guide 2012

Getting the best from your

ONLINE RESEARCH

Britannica guide

ABOUT

Everyone knows that using a computer is

a great way for everyone in your family to

do research, but when you sit down at the

computer, perhaps it’s not quite that simple!

This guide will give you all the essential tips

and hints to help you get the best results.

You want your research – whether it’s to

help with homework, pursue a hobby or to

find out vital information – to be reliable,

accurate and safe. This guide will give

you the essential tools to make sure your

family gets the very best from their online

searching.

This guide will give you the

skills to surf safely and with

real focus, whether you’re

a school pupil, a silver

surfer or somewhere

in between.

You will find out about using the Internet

to help with school work, making sure that

your children have understood what they

have found.

Follow our guidance and you will be flying

around the web, able to find just what you

and your family need most: accurate,

reliable and safe information.

enjoy the guide and even more importantly, enjoy getting the best out of researching online!

THIS GUIDE

What are you looking for? ..........................4

How to ask specific questions ....................... 5

Search Tips ........................................................... 5

Asking general questions ................................ 9

Finding information you can trust .........10

Can you trust some sites? .............................11

How can I tell if a site is reliable? ..............12

Finding the sites again ..................................13

Free information vs paid for information ............................................ 16

Free sites ..............................................................17

Paid for sites .......................................................18

Using the Internet safely ...........................19

Keeping children safe online .......................20

Smart children DON’T ...................................20

Smart children DO ...........................................20

Safety tools for parents .................................21

Using the Internet for project work ..... 23

Structuring your research .............................23

Copyright implications ..................................24

Citing sources ....................................................25

Tools to help you ............................................26

Widgets ................................................................26

RSS Feeds ............................................................27

Accessing the Internet when you are

out and about ...................................................28

For safe reliable research use Britannica online ................................ 29

Intuitive search tool ........................................30

Useful research tools .....................................31

Third party content .........................................31

Free content on Britannica Online ............33

Useful sites .................................................... 34

Children’s search engines .............................34

Mainstream search engines: .......................34

Museum sites .....................................................35

Reference information ...................................35

CONTENTS

Find out about our Free 30-DAy trial to BrITAnnIcA onLIne FAMILy BUnDLe on page 36

There is so much information out there… but what are you looking for?Before you start to search using your

computer, it’s important to stop and think

about the sort of information you are looking

for. Is it a specific question you want to

answer or something more general?

Specific enquiries are generally quite

easy to deal with.

Whatever you are looking for, you will need

to use a reliable search engine. A search

engine is a program used to browse

for information on the Internet. Perhaps

the most popular search engine is Google,

however, widely used alternatives include;

Altavista, Excite, Lycos and Bing.

Google is the most popular – but

don’t forget, if you’re in the UK,

use the .co.uk address and if you’re

abroad, use your national address,

such as www.google.de

for Germany.

Many children enjoy using search engines

such as Ask Jeeves www.ask.com. For a list

of other search engines for all the family,

look on page 34.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?

4 | What are you looking for?

how to ask specific questionsFinding the answer to a specific question is relatively easy, provided you use the right search

terms. Choosing the right words for your search can be tricky. Even experienced searchers have

to try different combinations before they strike gold, so a little trial and error can be expected

but to help you on your way, try our top search tips.

Search Tips

TOP TIPSelecting your search engine

• Select the search engine and type in what you are looking for.

• For UK information, select the ‘pages from the UK’ option.

What are you looking for? | 5

Keep it simpleSearch engines ignore the joining words – ‘the’, ‘in’,’ from’ and so on,

so Route Trans-Siberian Railway will be more successful than ‘What towns

are on the route of the Trans-Siberian Railway?’

• Use proper words if you know them – stomach rather than tummy.

• For information about a person, put their name in quotes –

“Mary Wright” so that the search engine treats it as a single item.

• Check you’ve spelled it right!

Once you have the results, check the site at the top of the page for information. If it’s not

there, work down the list and navigate to new pages if you have to.

TOP TIP


Image searchingWhen searching for images, type the subject into the search box as

normal but select the ‘images’ option.

TOP TIP


Here’s your question:

When did Henry VIII come to the throne?

Use your favourite search engine and think about the best words to key in.

You’ll need ‘Henry’, ‘viii’ to start with. How about ‘accession’ to finish it? Using the right

words is really important if you want fast results. This combination takes you directly to the

information you want at the first time of asking.

You might want to know how many bones there are in the human body. You’ll need

‘human body’ as a starting point and then add ‘bones’. Again, this combination will take

you directly to the answer to your question.

HAVE A GO

now try these tops for yourself


Asking general questionsIf your enquiry is of a general nature, be prepared to spend a little time on finding the right

information. You will almost certainly need to visit a number of websites to find a balance of

information, just as you’d need to consult a range of books.

Let’s say you’re planning a holiday abroad and you want to find out about climate, site-seeing

destinations, flights, currency exchange rates and hotels. You might find all this in one place but

the chances are you will need to conduct a series of searches, so before you even start, you need

to think hard about the type of information you want.

Know what you want before you start!

What? Be clear about what you are trying to do; what types of sources would be suitable to use?

Would an online encyclopedia be the best starting point?

Are you looking for some data?

Do you need to find a site with lots of maps or images?

Who? Who offers the best sources of this information?

Who really knows about this subject?

An online encyclopedia might be the best start.

A website from a respected journal?

Where? What type of Internet sites would be worth looking for?

It’s sometimes hard to find out who ‘wrote’ a site. Finding authors who you trust can be difficult.

Look for organisations who are experts in their field – specialists at museums, specialist journals, and official websites.


FINDING INFORMATION

YOU CAN TRUSTYou can access lots of websites with a few key strokes – but how do you know whether the information they contain is accurate?

The Internet is a fantastic place to explore.

It’s full of pages of information about every

topic you can imagine. Anyone can publish

a page about their favourite subject or their

particular great idea. So it’s important to

understand that not everything you read on

the Internet is ‘true’. Some sites are not as

reliable as you might think.

Rumour and gossip are rife on the Internet.

Don’t forget, anyone with a PC can create

an impressive site as an outlet for their views.

Nobody checks them, nobody edits them or

challenges them – so don’t take information

on face value from every site.

10 | Finding information you can trust

Finding information you can trust | 11

FINDING INFORMATION can you trust some sites?Yes of course. If you don’t, you’ll spend your life believing nothing. If you want train times,

then the local operator’s site will publish their timetable. If you want school holiday dates, the

local authority site will give them to you. It gets more complicated with matters of opinion

and just as newspapers will have conflicting views, so will websites. By all means conduct

research on various sites, but you may want to follow up using an online encyclopedia to

ensure accuracy of information.

TOP TIP

Use multiple sourcesWhen you’re researching for a school project or coursework, try to take

your information from more than one source, just as you would use more

than one book to inform you.

TOP TIP

Check the publisherIf you’re searching for information about a controversial topic – for

example fox hunting – ask yourself the simple question: Who is publishing

this? Just as you will respond differently to leaflets published by the

Countryside Alliance and the League Against Cruel Sports, you will also see

a strong point of view being stated on their websites.

how can I tell if a site is reliable?

Log on to a favourite site and ask yourself: HAVE A GO

If you cannot be sure about the answer to these questions, then perhaps it’s not a reliable

source of information – but like ANY publication, it might offer you information which is

exactly right for your needs.

Who is the author?

Who is the publisher?

Who is paying for the site?

Do they know what they are talking about?

Why are they publishing this information?

Is their information biased in any way?

Who links to their site?

What date was the last update posted?



Finding the sites againYou’ve found a great site and want to use it again in the future. Rather than have to search

for it again you can save the address into your Favorites or Bookmarks folder.

Depending on what browser you are using select the Favorites or Bookmarks menu and a

window like this will open up.

Add your favourite

Add your bookmark

organizing your favorites Choosing the ‘Organize Favorites’ or ‘Organize Bookmarks’ option will

allow you to save individual pages from the sites you are using into project

folders. Lots of sites are really big, so just saving the address of the home page

is not going to be very helpful.

Saving the sites into structured folders means that you can find them again easily,

and also cite them as sources when you have finished your research.

folders. Lots of sites are really big, so just saving the address of the home page

TOP TIP



Make it easy for you and your familyUsing Favorites folders is a good way of keeping track of useful sites. Working together on

the computer and then saving your searches in this way will help your children learn safe

ways of working.

Use the Browser History button to see the list of sites visited – you can look at that by date,

by site, by most visited, and it also offers the order of sites visited too, so you can see how

your child has moved from one site to another.

FREE VS PAID-FOR INFORMATIONWhy pay for information when there is so much out there that is free at the touch of a button? For some web surfers, free information is all they will ever need for most of the time – but

there are a number of key issues that you need to consider before deciding that this is the

best content for your needs.

16 | Free vs paid-for information

Free vs paid-for information | 17

Advantages Disadvantages

Free – no money ever changes hands Sometimes there is too much choice, making it

hard for the casual surfer to find what they need

They exist in abundance, so a wide range are

available

The user isn’t always able to trust the information

on the site – does the site owner have a point of

view that he wants to state?

They can offer expert opinion/help/support

in areas which are considered too small for a

subscription site – excellent for hobbies, for

instance

Message boards might not be moderated, which

can put users at risk

They can put you in contact with like-minded

people via message boards and forums

Getting in touch with the site owner can be

difficult

The site might link to inappropriate sites – or to

sites which in turn link to sites you don’t want to

have access to

The site might disappear at any time

Free sites

There are a range of free sites that are safe, reliable and useful, such as the official sites of

hospitals, schools, government departments, newspapers and media sites and so on which

are professionally developed and maintained. In these cases, the ‘free’ only refers to the user

– there is a high cost to the owners, who spend considerable resource to keep their site up to

date and reliable.

When using free sites, there will be many occasions when they are the only source of detailed

information about some specialist areas. Your local sports team will almost certainly have

a website, run by supporters and likely to be the best source of information about the club.

Sometimes it might be slightly out of date or have misprints – but relative to all other

information you can read elsewhere, it’s the best you can find and you’ll forgive the errors.

But if the information is the best you get and you’re happy to live with the occasional error,

then you’ll tolerate any short-comings.

Advantages Disadvantages

Constantly updated

It is professionally edited

Some sites offer a free trial so you can try before

you commit

Paid for sites need to cover their overheads such

as editors, web development and marketing

Reliable and informed Having subscribed, you may change your mind

about committing

Owners can be contacted and encourage

feedback

The cost may increase

Owners are responsive to making changes

If there is a forum or message board, it is likely to

be moderated

Unlikely to link to inappropriate sites

Likely to be around in the future

To be competitive, it has to keep developing new

features and content

The owners will want to inform you of

developments and new content

The search engine is usually reliable and effective

Paid-for sites

Paid-for sites tend to be more comprehensive than free sites and are usually more objective.

They also operate in a market in which people are happy to invest if they want a certain type

and quality of information. It’s impossible to say which of free and paid for have the greater

value: free sites such as one giving government advice on health will always be free to the user

and will be professionally developed. A hobby site about bird watching may also be free but

won’t offer the same professional standards, making the two impossible to compare.

If you’re thinking about subscribing to a paid-for site, find out if you can have a free trial

to begin with so that you can monitor its value and use over a number of weeks before

committing.

18 | Free vs paid-for information

Using the Internet safely | 19

USING THEINTERNET SAFELYThere are enough scare stories in the press to put you off using the Internet if you were to believe them all. There are some really simple rules that families need to think about before surfing.

Locate the PC downstairs, where usage can be monitored.

If your children are surfing for information, help them at the beginning

to get an idea of the type of sites they are visiting.

Encourage your children to use child-friendly search engines such as Ask Jeeves.

Parents – explain to your children the basics of e-safety, see below.

TOP TIP

Keeping children safe online

Smart children DON’T• Share their passwords with other people

• Use ‘remember me’ settings when using public

computers, including school and library machines

• Publish telephone numbers and address on

community websites

• Tag people by name in pictures without the agreement

of the person involved

• ‘Say’ things to people online that

they wouldn’t say to their face

Smart children DO• Talk to an adult if they are at all worried about

someone’s behaviour online

• Flag up anything online that is inappropriate

20 | Using the Internet safely

Using the Internet safely | 21

Safety tools for parentsThe search engines offer tools to make sure that adult sites are not included in the search

results provided. Look for Search Settings or Preferences where the options can be chosen,

either near the search box or at the top of the search engine page. The search engines also

offer a ‘lock’ facility that means that the setting cannot be changed too easily.

Filtering software for parental controlThere are a number of commercially available programs that will block access to sites that

you don’t want your family to come across. They will also track which sites have been visited

and when.

Examples of programs which will limit or block access to sites are: Cybersieve, CyBlock,

Symantec Protection Suite, Barracuda Web Filter

For further information on keeping children safe on the internet, visit

www.google.co.uk/intl/en/landing/familysafety/

Remember parents – yoU Are In chArge!

22 | Using the Internet safely

Using the Internet for project work | 23

USING THE INTERNETFOR PROJECT WORK

Many schools and colleges actively encourage their students to use the Internet to research projects from home. Some point their students in the direction of three or four key sites to help them on their way.

What’s important to

remember is that finding

three or four websites is just

the beginning of the work

– what happens next is the

really interesting part.

The chances are the student

will be assessed on how they

use the information, not on

merely finding it. Locating a

great website and copying

and pasting chunks into your document isn’t showing any understanding of the topic – but

using information from two or three sites by writing your own original thoughts is.

Students need to be completely aware that examination coursework that is the product of

copying and pasting will be regarded as plagiarism and at best will lead to the work being

discounted.

Structuring your researchTopic webs are a good way of helping you to structure your thinking and show how one

idea relates to others. Choose the main topic as the central node, and then create main

subheadings around it. Once you have thought about the main subheadings, you can then

add the next level of detail. This can help you create a consistent level of detail around the

subject as a whole.

An example of topic web for henry VIII

Creating a table of information can help you to structure data too, especially where the same

sort of information could be found.

copyright implicationsThe information you take away from online encyclopedias or other websites all belongs to

someone. You are allowed to copy it for your own use and for your own learning. You are not

allowed to put resources up onto a website somewhere else as if they were your own. Just

because it is easy to copy information from the Internet, it does not mean that it is free to use.

It is very important to respect copyright.

You are allowed to use text links to other people’s web pages, but you should not hide the links

and make it look as though the pages are your own.

24 | Using the Internet for project work

Using the Internet for project work | 25

citing sourcesWhen you have been researching information for a project, you should include a list of the

places where you found the information.

Encyclopaedia Britannica – the online encyclopedia have made it easy for students to cite

the source of information. When a student is in an article conducting their research they

simply click on the Citation button at the top of an article, or scroll down to the bottom of

the page and you will find the citation information.

It’s on graphics pages too. The Cite Media button on the graphic page will give you

appropriate information.

It’s often a little harder to find similar information for regular websites, but it’s really

important that you do. For example you can easily click a link on a webpage and find yourself

taken to another site altogether so be aware of this and make sure you cite sources correctly.

TOOLS TOHELP YOU

Widgets Widgets are small programs that you can put on your desktop or on a webpage that

offer particular functions – clocks, sports scores, webcams, weather information, travel

information and so on.

Below are examples of widgets that can be found on Britannica Online.

Go to www.eb.com/widgets

Many sites have a host of tools that make research easy and allow you to access information on your phone, via email or on your desktop.

26 | Tools to help you

Tools to help you | 27

rSS Feeds Lots of sites have new content added to them frequently and RSS (Really

Simple Syndication) allows you to keep up-to-date with events on your

subject or area of interest.

Many content and news sites have the RSS feature but to be sure you can subscribe to an

RSS feed you will see this icon.

The way in which RSS feeds work is once you subscribe to a feed the originating computer

saves your address and when new information is available, it sends a message to your

computer (or phone) to tell you that there is new content to view.

You can then read it at your leisure using a Feed Reader or News Aggregator software such

as FeedReader (Windows) or Amphetadesk (Windows, Linux and Mac)

FeedReader www.feedreader.com

Amphetadesk www.disobey.com/amphetadesk

or as a web-based solution with Google Reader or My Yahoo.

These tools allow you to subscribe to a number of different RSS feeds and put all the

information they provide to you together.

Benefits• You can stay informed with all the latest information from the sites that interest you most.

• You can save time as you don’t have to check your preferred websites yourself.

• You don’t have to log onto the sites, and receive their email newsletters unless you really

want to.

Beware! • Many sites have daily feeds which can provide an enormous amount of information.

• Only subscribe to sites that really interest you.

Accessing the Internet when you are out and about ‘Needing to know’ wherever you are has become part of our expectations for technology.

Many phone contracts now offer connectivity to the Internet allowing you to access

websites wherever you are. Increasingly sites are being published in a number of formats,

so they can be viewed on mobile phones easily. Sometimes you might be offered a piece

of software to download to your phone, or you might be invited to link to an alternative

web site that has been optimised to work on your phone.

Not all phones operate with files in the same format, and programs that are designed to

work specifically on the iPhone or alternatively on the Blackberry might not work on other

handsets.

The iPhone currently has the most resources designed to work on it, including games,

travel information, encyclopedias, weather data, restaurant suggestions, and many more.

Benefits• You can find out information wherever you are!

• You can identify local sights, services and resources as you travel.

• You can make the most of your time when on the move.

Watch out! • Some mobile and broadband providers charge extra for data download, and it’s easy to

run up big bills.

28 | Tools to help you

Using Britannica online for safe reliable research | 29

FOR SAFE RELIABLE RESEARCH

USE BRITANNICA ONLINEShould you choose to use an encyclopedia for your research needs, Britannica Online www.britannica.com is one of the most trusted sources of information on the Internet and covers a vast array of subjects. You can be sure that the information you receive is trusted, written by experts in their chosen

field of expertise, fact checked and professionally edited.

Britannica Online has a wealth of reference materials – photos, illustrations, videos and

interactive multimedia all located in an easy to use website. All articles are fully indexed, linked

and cross-referenced.

Sample videoVideo of Astronomy:

The Solar System (Duration: 3:32)

Intuitive search toolBritannica Online has a powerful search function which offers intuitive search suggestions

as you type. Once you select the search result you are after Britannica Online offers a

comprehensive list of associated articles you may need to know about, making research easier

and saving you time.

30 | Using Britannica online for safe reliable research


Useful research tools‘My workspace’ is a feature on Britannica Online that allows you to save your work, create new

documents, add images, illustrations and upload media files in your own workspace. You are

also able to recommend articles to friends and post your suggested comments and additions

to articles to Britannica’s editors

Third party contentTake your topic search to another level and save valuable search time by accessing additional

information in the form of independent magazine articles and ebooks to offer an extension of

the featured Britannica Online article.

World Data AnalystWorld Data Analyst allows you to extract country data and draw statistical comparisons

between countries, presenting analysis in a chart or table.

You can broaden your understanding of the world by looking at worldwide records spanning

90 years or look at a snapshot of data on one country. The country comparison feature is

a unique geographical aid that gives you facts and statistics as well as flags, maps, recent

events and related websites on any two countries.

Country snapshot

Compare countries

32 | Using Britannica online for safe reliable research


iPhoneiPhone and iPod touch users can consult

Britannica Online at any time by referring

to Britannica Mobile iPhone Edition.

Simply visit http://i.eb.com for answers

to all of your burning questions.

newsletterTurn on the Free Britannica Subscribed Link from Google and receive

relevant Britannica content incorporated into your search results.

Visit http://newsletters.britannica.com/toolbox/

WidgetsPersonalise your homepage with a selection of widgets,

and brush up on your favourite people, places and subjects.

Visit www.eb.com/widgets

Free content on Britannica online Britannica Online www.britannica.com offers you the following content for free which will

assist you with your research:-

Updated rSS feeds, which cover: • This Day in History, learn something new each day with events from the past;

• Quote of the Day, pays tribute to some of the most influential figures;

• New and Revised Articles, expand your knowledge on every conceivable article and receive

daily updates on current events;

• Behind the Headlines, be up-to-date on the week’s biggest stories in the news;

Visit http://corporate.britannica.com/bps/feeds.html

USEFUL SITES

children’s search engines

Yahoo Kids www.kids.yahoo.com

Fact Monster – World www.factmonster.com/world.html

Quintura for Kids – US site www.quinturakids.com

Mainstream search engines:

Google www.google.co.uk

Bing www.bing.com

Yahoo www.yahoo.co.uk

AOL www.aol.com

Ask Jeeves www.ask.com

Museum sites

www.npg.org.uk

Images from the National Portrait Gallery are available online.

www.nationalgallery.org.uk

Information about the gallery and about its collection are available here.

www.tate.org.uk

Tate Britain and Tate Modern galleries have sites that can be accessed here.

www.nationaltrust.co.uk

This site links to all the Trust’s properties and gives information to support a visit.

www.english-heritage.org.uk

This site provides information about the many sites managed by this Government agency.

34 | Useful sites

Useful sites | 35

reference information:

www.direct.gov.uk

DirectGov: a site that provides UK Government information from many different fields –

education, health, tax and so on.

www.arkive.org

A collection of images and videos illustrating and

exploring the world’s wildlife.

www.earth.google.com

A programme that offers detailed maps and

satellite images from around the world.

www.childrenfirst.nhs.uk

A site from Great Ormond Street with games

and information about health issues for

children and parents too.

www.homeworkelephant.co.uk

A site that provides links to many other sites that will

be relevant for subject research for students of all ages.

www.nasa.org

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

site has links to many fascinating resources

about space, space missions and the solar system.

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Documents

UK Research Guide 2012