PSY200 Kraska

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) lets you request copies of articles and book chapters from other libraries. Use ILL to request books not available through Summit. ILL is free.

With a few tricks, you can get relevant search results in one try using Google.

Learn how to set up this advanced Google search below.

We all use it - now let's learn to use it better! Improve your Googling skills to save time and make it easier to identify better sources of information.

Quotation marks

• 
• Use quotation marks around your search terms to search for the words in the exact order you would like, instead of separately.

intitle:

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• Use intitle: to retrieve webpages with your keywords in the title of the webpage

site:

• 
• Use site:. to retrieve webpages from URLs in the domain (.gov, .edu, .org) you specify.  

- (a hyphen or minus sign) 

• 
• Use - (a hyphen or minus sign) in front of words to exclude them from your search results.

OR

• 
  In the above example, Google will find results that include (election AND fraud) and (voter AND fraud).
• Use OR in between words to have either or both of the words included in your search results. OR must be capitalized. This is a good way to search for synonyms.

filetype:

• 
• Use filetype: to retrieve specific types of files (instead of html webpages). Works for finding most file types.

Combine strategies

• 
• Use several strategies at once for very specific results.

Great question. A "good" source is both credible and relevant.

Relevancy means the source helps you answer your questions, learn widely about your topic, and think about your topic in new ways.

Credibility, when applied to an information source, means trustworthy. Trustworthiness is tricky to determine, but doable! Pause and ask questions about your information resource, beyond just what is in your information resource. CCC Library recommends either of these tools to help you evaluate your information resources.

• The CRAP Test

• The SIFT Method

Ultimately it is up to you to determine — using research and your own critical judgment — whether a source is credible or not. And "credible" can mean something and look different to everyone. Your instructors expect you to use credible, authoritative information in your projects and papers, so be upfront and clear about why you trust the information you choose to use.

CCC Librarians are here to help you with this question, too. ♥

^{Abe adapted from public domain photo Abraham Lincoln [image]. (1863). Available from https://upload.wikimedia.org/}