Handbook for Online Volunteers
 
Online Research Advice and Resources

More than half of all online volunteer assignments with the Virtual Volunteering Project (and many for other organizations) involve some kind of online research. This research may include

 
What are the tools?

There are four types of search tools on the web: search engines, directories, directories with search engines, and multi-engine searches. Because each tool has its strengths and weaknesses, an experienced web researcher will try to use multiple tools to get the most out of the search.

  1. Search Engines
    Also called "spiders" or "crawlers," search engines constantly visit web sites on the Internet in order to create catalogs of web pages and 'index' the content based on keywords. Indexing works in a similar way as the Index in the back of a book-a long list of keywords link you to the pages that the word is on. Since the engines are continually updating the database by indexing sites through the robots, new information is available faster than on directories. Search engines are good for keyword searches, but not subject searches. Realizing that search engines have their drawbacks, many of these engines also have directory functions.

    2. Examples of search engines:

     
  2. Directory
    A directory search tool searches for information by subject matter. It is a hierarchical search that starts with a general subject heading and follows with a succession of increasingly more specific sub-headings. Unlike search engines, directories are created by humans. Sites must be submitted, then they are assigned to an appropriate category or categories. But just like in a library, a directory is only as good as the people that are categorizing. Because they are indexed by hand, some directories can often provide better results than search engines.

    3. Examples of directories include: Encyclopedia Britannica and Magellan.

     
  3. Directory with search engine
    A directory with search engine uses both the subject and keyword search methods described above. As a directory search, it follows a directory path through increasingly more specific subject matter. At each stop along the path, a search engine option is provided to enable the searcher to convert to a keyword search. A subject search and keyword search are thus said to be coordinated. The further down the path the keyword search is made, the narrower is the search field and the fewer and more relevant the hits.

    4. Examples of directories with search engine functions include: Look Smart, Yahoo

     
  4. Multi-engine search
    A multi-engine search utilizes more than one search engine at the same time. You enter keywords into the "meta-search" and the engine submits the keywords to multiple sites. It then lists the hits either by search engine or by combining the results into a single listing based on a percentage.

Examples of multi-engine searches include: All-In-One and Metacrawler.

 


So...now what? or How do I use these things?

Now that you have the tools, the next step is asking the questions. Each search engine has its strengths and weaknesses, but the key to better searches is asking better questions. Wording the query properly can dramatically improve your search results.

  1. Start with the specific
    Start with very specific terms and use at least three or more search terms when you start. By using more keywords to narrow your search, you can locate documents that fit your information needs more precisely. To narrow your results further, continue to add more query terms to focus your search quickly.

    2.  

  2. Use Operators, if possible
    Operators are "rules or specific instructions used for composing a query in a keyword search." These rules, or tags, help you communicate all of the keywords and combination of keywords to help you narrow your search. Warning! Each search engine has its own operators, so by becoming familiar with which operators your search engine uses, you increase the likelihood of a successful search. Some operators are used in common by a number of search engines:

Boolean
Employs AND, OR, NEAR and NOT to connect words and phrases [i.e. terms].

When using these operators, remember to capitalize them as shown above.

Plus/Minus Signs
This is pretty much the same as the Boolean.

 

Do not leave a space between the operator and the term that follows.

Quote Marks
Use "quote" marks to indicate that the words within the quote marks are to be treated as an exact phrase.

 

Finding Out More...
To learn more about search engines and how to use them, here are some suggested sites:

 
Other Resources for Using the Internet as a Research Tool
To learn more about using the Internet for research:

 
Finding Names, Street Addresses and Phone Numbers

Some online research assignments are just to find correct names, street addresses, and other contact information. This can be part of an assignment to correct information in a contact database, or to build a new database of contact information for a nonprofit organization.

We recommend these tools:

 
Finding Databases and Statistics

 
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The Handbook for Online Volunteers was created by:
The Virtual Volunteering Project
http://www.serviceleader.org/vv/
 
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If you find this or any other Virtual Volunteering Project information helpful, or would like to add information based on your own experience, please contact us.