Website Research
Web research is the practice of using the Internet, especially the World Wide Web, for research. The internet is widely used and readily accessible to hundreds of millions of people in many parts of the world. It can provide practically instant information on most topics, and has a profound impact on the way ideas are formed and knowledge is created.
Research is a broad term. Here, it is used to mean "looking something up (on the Web)". It includes any activity where a topic is identified, and an effort is made to actively gather information for the purpose of furthering understanding. Common applications of Internet research include personal research on a particular subject. It should be distinguished from scientific research - research following a defined and rigorous process - carried out on the Internet; from straightforward finding of specific info, like locating a name or phone number; and from research about the Internet.
Quality on the internet is more than a ‘difficulty’ with specific search techniques having evolved to assist us to reveal the quality of information found online. The use of context searching (using the inurl: field search) and the retrieval of endorsements (using primarily the link field search but with other options) reveals much of the information we need to make a better quality assessment. A familiarity with context and endorsement searching is thus an internet research skill that lies beyond “advanced internet searching”.
