Researching College Level Essays Online

Google Search and Wikipedia for College Students

Apr 18, 2009

Good research is the foundation of good writing. It is the only universal cure for writer's block, and it is the only way to get an A on a paper for school.

The internet is a modern oracle; when writing a college essay, many students will go to a search engine before they even crack open a book. But good research (the main ingredient to writing a good paper) always goes deeper than this. Google and Wikipedia are convenient for quick answers, and to help a student get started on a project--but they should never, ever be the only sources a student consults, even though they can both cover a vast variety of topics.

How to Use Google to Research an Essay

Google's value to initial research increases exponentially with how well one can manipulate search fields. Google is best for quick answers, and is especially valuable if one needs to quickly translate jargon back into English. By typing "define: word" (define: maudlin) into Google's main search field, one can pull up a vast list of possible definitions without having to consult the specific reference material of a technical field.

If, however, one needs to extensively research a complex topic, Google's value begins to deteriorate, even as a starting point. This is because hyper-specific search fields are often fruitless, or else pull up materials that are not what you need.

Using Google to Find Peer Reviewed Journals and Newspaper Articles

Google can be a one stop spot for newspaper articles. News.google.com searches thousands of newspapers for certain key words, and this is great for researching recent and current events, but realize that it is only searching online editions of newspapers. Online articles tend to be different from paper ones, and they'll often be edited, added to, and amended as an event unfolds. This is a different style from paper news sources, and good research techniques should still include the public library's collection of papers.

Google also has a search engine for scholarly articles, but this is of less value, particularly compared to archival databases such as JSTOR. This has nothing to do with the power of Google's search engines, and everything to do with copyright law.

Google itself is not an archival service, and most legal archives are password protected, or are inside a closed network. As a result, Google Scholar often finds abstracts rather than entire articles.

This can be used to prepare for more intense research at an academic database. Fortunately, if Google Scholar finds a relevant abstract, it will also say in what specific journal the article was published. Most college campus libraries - and many public libraries - have a solid collection of peer reviewed journals, so a student can use Google Scholar to locate in-print articles.

The one advantage Google Scholar has over academic databases is its ease of use. All of the familiar Google search commands function in Google Scholar.

Wikipedia and College Essays

The unaccepted reality, however, is that this makes Wikipedia more authoritative than many other websites. It has articles on niche subjects, which are usually moderated by hobbyists. This means that much of the content one finds on Wikipedia has been peer-reviewed hundreds and hundreds of times. Contrast this with the majority of topical websites, which are often maintained by a single webmaster, get one revision, and have an unapologetic bias.

But Wikipedia is not a valid source. It can never be listed in a reference page and taken seriously, mostly because of the stigma attached to its policy of allowing everyone editorial input. Who can trust an article when it allows six-year-olds to chime in?

Wikipedia's editorial team does an excellent job of moderating vandalism and general idiocy. But there is still the chance that one could access a wiki shortly after vandalism, before the editors have had time to fix it.

Or that one could access it while two diametrically opposed individuals are in a revision war, trying to make the article better reflect their point of view.

Or that the article is relatively new, and the serious hobbyists have not yet taken an interest.

A serious research effort uses Wikipedia for two things: an initial understanding of a topic, and for gathering the terms, phrases, theories, and names that one will need to more deeply research a topic. But usually, a class textbook will provide both of these.

Wikipedia can also be used to discover alternative points of view, which can be very useful if one has a textbook with obvious bias.

Ultimately, search engines and wikis are both augmentations to serious research, not ways to avoid the library. Use them to fill in small blanks, use them to begin researching a topic, and use them to quickly define words and concepts. But don’t use them to conduct every single piece of research in article. It will lead to shoddy research, with both informational and logical holes, and this will, in turn, result in bad grades.

The copyright of the article Researching College Level Essays Online in Essay Writing is owned by Barthololmew Klick. Permission to republish Researching College Level Essays Online in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.