3.1 Search Process

A student looks intently at the computer in the Watsonville ILC

Thinking Critically About Searching

In our last module, we focused on the importance of thinking critically about the information we find online. But what about the actual search process? How can critical thinking and effective Web search practices help us to find better sources to begin with? This module will present a few key strategies and concerns related to efficient and effective Web searching. 

2 Essential Tips

Before we begin, it is helpful to think about your own views and expectations surrounding the Web search process. Do you expect to be able to enter a few keywords, and immediately find exactly what you need? What do you do when your Google search results are not that great? 

Here are the 2 most important pieces of advice we would like you to keep in mind throughout this module:

  1. Be picky: There are millions of websites, why settle for one of questionable quality?
  2. Keywords matter: To find the best sources, don't be afraid to change your keywords and try your search again.

Searching is an iterative process: We try keywords, take a look at what we found and, if the results weren’t good enough, edit our keywords and search again - often multiple times. Most of the time, the first keywords we try are not the best, even though Google may give us many results. It pays to search further for the sources that will help you the most. Be picky.

Photo credit: Marcello Hutchinson-Trujillo

Textbox: Adapted from "Why Precision Searching?" Links to an external site. by Teaching & Learning, Ohio State University Libraries, Links to an external site. licensed under CC BY 4.0 Links to an external site.