And how to fix it
Summary: Use Google Search as an entryway to your sources of information. Combine always with other sources like your library. Read journals and books. Verify information that you find. Check the trustworthiness of search results. Find other sources that deal with the same matter. Set clear what you are searching for and why the results matter.
The Internet, invented in 1989 by Tim Berners Lee, and created by him in 1990, is a great invention. In many ways, it fulfills earlier dreams and visions of universally accessible knowledge. All of these were built on the assumption that such access is to the common good of mankind. It is quite amazing when you think of it, that at the tap of your mobile, you can search on the spot for information. No need to go to a library, or open a book, magazine, or newspaper.
As in a library, you need a system in place that guides you to the resources you need, the same applies to the Internet. Finding a resource on the Internet is like searching through millions of smaller and larger library buildings (servers) located all over the world, and in each library books (files) are stored in different locations. In the early days, lists of where things are were created by hand by people using the Internet. As the Internet grew in size and content, such tasks became less feasible. This is where search engines came into play, that build automated lists. Today, the dominant search engine is Google, which was launched in 1998. Before Google, there were other search engines like Yahoo! (1994), Lycos (1994), and AltaVista (1995), to name a few (here is nice overview of the history of search engines [2]). Nevertheless, Google Search surely today is number one; to the extent that searching information on the Internet is simply named googling.
To be sure, Google Search is very useful. It is fast, the queries you can enter are close to natural language, it yields many search results, with lots of additional information, and going to the results is just a matter of a click to the link. Yet, one may fall easily into the impression, that Google Search is the ultimate resource and there is no need to look further. However, just google it, is not research.
Basic things we need from our resources in science
Any resource that you use in your research should have the following aspects:
- Retrievable: anyone should be reasonably able to get the same resource. This is why for example for journal articles you mention the journal name, volume number, issue number, year of publication, etc. For an internet source you must mention the link and the date when you last retrieved that information from said link.
- Durable: there should a reasonable guarantee that the source will be retrievable for an extended period of time (let's say, at least 50 years). A recent study published in Nature suggests millions of scientific papers are at risk of disappearing because they are not properly archived [3].
- Stable: When you make a reference to a source, then that source itself should not change anymore. For printed matter, this is obvious. Different versions appear as separate publications in the case of articles, and different edition numbers in case of books. With Internet pages however, the content of the page can be changed any time. Some resources are by definition dynamic (for example current weather report, currency exchange, stock market, daily news). Very often your references are not of a dynamic nature, and you need to be sure that their content does not change.
- Reliable: On the Internet, anyone can publish anything without any check of truthfulness. Thus, reliability of your search results can be very hard to establish.
So how to use Google Search as a research tool?
Never use Google Search as your only source of information.
View Google Search as an entry point into your research agenda, and not as the ultimate source for everything. With Google Search, you can create very quickly a scan of potentially useful sources for your research. This scan can serve as a starting point for your research.
Take the following points into consideration:
- Search agenda: Make clear for yourself what you are actually searching for. Define important keywords for your search. Set your expectations what kind of sources you are looking for (articles, papers, book chapters, books, web pages). What is the time period of the sources that you expect to find: are you looking for the most recent results, or rather older results? You should realize that Google Search will only find digitized information available on the Internet. Although this is a huge amount of sources, a larger amount of sources is not available for the simple reason that they have not been digitized and made available via the Internet. Thus relying only on Google can lead to "digital shortsightedness".
- Author list and analysis: Use Google Search not only to find information, but also to find out who produced that information. In this way you can quickly build a list of important and influential people that are active in your research area. Further search on those people will most likely yield more results on your topics since people publish over the years on their research.
- Find multiple references: Never be satisfied with a single or low number of search results. Even things that might seem objective and clear may turn out to be subject of debate and discussion. Additionally, it will sharpen and clarify your own definitions when you find that multiple interpretations depend on the definitions of things you are looking for. For example, the question "When was ancient Sparta created?" can give you results ranging from 10th Century BCE [4], 9th Century BCE [5], and 6th Century BCE [6]. A wide variety of possible answers can mean a number of different things: (a) your search is not precise and subject to many different interpretations; (b) the topic is under much investigation with inconclusive results; (c) the topic is under debate relying on a wide variety on sources. This should give you some feeling for the reliability of the search results.
- Cross-check and verify with other sources: Reputable and trustworthy sources always mention their own resources on which they base their claims. It is good practice to try and find these sources, and basically see if you can find the reference in those texts. An important bonus in doing this is, that you will learn the context in which statements are made.
- Expand and specialize your search: While almost any search with Google Search will yield tens, hundreds, or even thousands of results, this does not mean that you need to consult Google Search only once and then you're done. Combined with your search agenda described in point 1, you should try out multiple variations of your query to make sure you are covering many or all aspects of your topic. As you study the results, you will find most likely that your initial search questions were too broad or unspecific, or that more specialized research is going on which needs further investigation. Use these findings to become more informed so that next time you can formulate better search queries.
- Build a timeline: Whenever you find multiple outcomes to a search query, put those outcomes in a timeline of chronological order, and start with the oldest results working up through the newest. In this way you will learn to appreciate the historical development of a topic.
- Document your process: Chances are that when you repeat a Google Search some time later, you will get different results (at least in the results that are displayed on the top of the list). This is logical, since both the Internet and your topic are dynamically developing. So when you find very useful references, make sure you document them somehow - next time they may not show up again!
- Leave your computer alone: When you have a number of key publications that deal with your research topic, go to the library and find those books, journals, and magazines. Browsing a physical book is still a whole different experience from an online file; so chances are your attention will be caught on different parts and sections in a book than when you would read it in online form. Additionally, books in libraries are often organised in thematic sections so that one book you are looking for, might be next to other interesting books as well.
As you progress in your research, your own knowledge level and maturity in the research field increases. Your capability to find and assess information will have grown. Most likely you are already building your network and know people in your field who are leading in your research topic. You will understand the usefulness of Google Search, but also its limitations.
References
