Searching yields hits. Researching makes connections.
That is the mantra that all good undergraduates should adopt and appreciate. As convenient and as helpful as search engines can be (and they are amazing in that respect), they offer up a number of deadly traps for the serious researcher. The blizzard of information that results after a typical Google or Yahoo! search is not always helpful and sometimes can be downright misleading.
If you want to learn more about how to navigate search engines effectively, check out this helpful post from Teachinghistory.org. They offer practical guidance on critical issues such as how to use Boolean operators more effectively or where to find the deep web. If those terms are new to you, then you definitely need to check out that post.
But mostly, students who use Google or tools like ChatGPT for searching are not seeking out “deep web” sources, they’re seeking out surface sources, like Wikipedia, just to get started. These types of sources are better known as reference (or tertiary) sources, like dictionaries and encyclopedias. They are designed to provide quick and easy introductory guidance to a subject. With reference sources, students should be collecting leads or data points, that can then help with further research into a deeper web (or library catalog) of primary and secondary sources that will ultimately prove far more useful for college-level research papers.
True research involves navigating back and forth across multiple platforms and across digital, print and even archival worlds to find an array of sources and perspectives that can truly shed light on a topic.
Good secondary sources for the close reading essays are most likely to be found in these locations:
- Library catalog
- MLA International
- JSTOR
- America: History & Life
To learn more about how to use these platforms, see the Library research guide for History
Here is a student-produced video that captures the essence of the difference between search and research: