Monash University Library

Website Searching Accessibility Document

Show Me

Website Searching

Description

This Show Me will demonstrate different ways to search individual websites for scholarly information.

Website Searching 1Screen 1 - Title 2Screen 2 – Choose an appropriate website 3Screen 3 – Using library guides 4Screen 3 – How to find library guides 5Screen 4 – Searching for websites 6Screen 5 – Relevance of the website 7Screen 6 – Navigating the website 8Screen 7 – Using search option within a website 9

Monash University, Clayton Campus, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria, 3800, AustraliaTelephone +61 3 9902 6000 Facsimile +61 3 9905 4007www.monash.edu/library/

1

Monash University Library

Screen 1 - Title

This Show Me will demonstrate different ways to search individual websites for scholarly information. By the end of this tutorial you should be able to:

find appropriate websites through Monash University Library Guides. find information within a website by navigating using keywords. find information within a website using advanced search functions.

This activity will take approximately 3 minutes to complete.

Click CONTINUE to begin.

Monash University, Clayton Campus, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria, 3800, AustraliaTelephone +61 3 9902 6000 Facsimile +61 3 9905 4007www.monash.edu/library/

2

Monash University Library

Screen 2 – Choose an appropriate website

Screen made up of many images of company and organisational logos from the internet, including ABC, Reserve Bank of Australia, Australian Centre for Independent Journalism, Australian Govt, United Nations etc.

The first thing you need to consider when finding information through a site-specific search is choosing an appropriate website. Usually these websites are connected to reputable organisations or government departments.

Monash University, Clayton Campus, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria, 3800, AustraliaTelephone +61 3 9902 6000 Facsimile +61 3 9905 4007www.monash.edu/library/

3

Monash University Library

Screen 3 – Using library guides

Video slide starting at the library homepage.

An easy way to find a suitable website to search is to use the library guides provided by Monash University library.

Monash University, Clayton Campus, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria, 3800, AustraliaTelephone +61 3 9902 6000 Facsimile +61 3 9905 4007www.monash.edu/library/

4

Monash University Library

Screen 3 – How to find library guides

Screen shows library homepage and includes video capture of how to locate library guides from the homepage. It also goes into the Journalism library guide to show the tab for websites.

To find your library guide open the library website, go to services for students and click on the library guides link. These library guides are for subject specific information, links and resources. Often they contain a tab or box with links to and descriptions of relevant websites. These library guides may be useful for finding other information for your research.

Monash University, Clayton Campus, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria, 3800, AustraliaTelephone +61 3 9902 6000 Facsimile +61 3 9905 4007www.monash.edu/library/

5

Monash University Library

Screen 4 – Searching for websites

Screen shows the Google homepage.

If you already know of a reputable organisation or institution in your area, such as a professional organisation or industry body, you can search for this directly. Be careful about using Google to find appropriate websites though as not all websites contain information of high enough quality for use in your research. Always evaluate the website before using any information contained within it. For tips on how to do this check out the evaluating sources section of the Academic Research on the Internet emodule.

Monash University, Clayton Campus, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria, 3800, AustraliaTelephone +61 3 9902 6000 Facsimile +61 3 9905 4007www.monash.edu/library/

6

Monash University Library

Screen 5 – Relevance of the website

Screen shows Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) home page.

Before starting your search make sure you are loooking in the right place. For example, I know that the Australian Communications and Media Authority is responsible for regulating the Australian television industry. Therefore it should contain Australian television codes and regulations. If I was looking for the American television codes of practice, I would choose a different website. You may want to check out the About Us pages on your website to find out exactly what sort of information it will contain.

Monash University, Clayton Campus, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria, 3800, AustraliaTelephone +61 3 9902 6000 Facsimile +61 3 9905 4007www.monash.edu/library/

7

Monash University Library

Screen 6 – Navigating the website

Screen shows Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) Corporate responsibilities page.

Once you have found an appropriate website, use the tools provided within it to search for information. You can usually navigate to an appropriate part of the website using links such as Publications, Research or Resources. In this case the appropriate part of the website seems to be the library. However sometimes the navigation may not be obvious and there may be too many documents to find what you are looking for easily.

Monash University, Clayton Campus, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria, 3800, AustraliaTelephone +61 3 9902 6000 Facsimile +61 3 9905 4007www.monash.edu/library/

8

Monash University Library

Screen 7 – Using search option within a website

Screen shows Community broadcasting codes, forms & guidelines page from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) website.

In this case the website may also include the option of a basic or advanced search. This can make looking for specific information much easier. For example, I would like to find the code of pracrtice for television in australia. This advance search allows me to choose both the type of information I am looking for and the format it should be found in. As most official documents are published in PDF format, this is what I would choose.

What do you do when you find the information that you are looking for. Save, Bookmark, or Record the citation information including the web address to find it again.

Monash University, Clayton Campus, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria, 3800, AustraliaTelephone +61 3 9902 6000 Facsimile +61 3 9905 4007www.monash.edu/library/

9