Surfing vs. Research

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So, how well did you do?  Did you get 100% on the pretest?

If you did not get a perfect score, there are probably a few things you need to learn about doing research on the Internet.  This orientation should be useful.

Surfing vs. Research

Research is different than simply surfing.  Surfing gives you a quick and superficial look at information.  It's what you do when you're trying to find the latest sports scores, when you check out a MySpace page or plan your summer vacation.  You quickly locate the information you want and then move on.  Surfing is fun, but not really what you want to do when you're working on a homework assignment.

Research means that you are searching for information and most important, EVALUATING that information.

When you do research, the quality of the information is VERY important - particularly when you’re working on a paper for one of your classes.  And although you may be used to finding information on the Internet, few people are used to evaluating it.  This is really what you will learn in this orientation.  You always have to carefully evaluate the information before you use it in any of your papers or projects. 

So, let's start by looking at how to do better Internet research.

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