Research Guides: Engineering Design and Practice Sequence (EDPS): Using Google

Searching Google

You are familiar with different Internet search engines such as Google, Duckduckgo, and many others. Such search engines would be a good start to begin your research if you can use appropriate keywords and other identifiers. Most search engines have advanced search options as shown below. Please note that the advanced search option is not available from the Google home page but can be accessed from the search results page.

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Searching Google using Engineering Design

The advanced search window give you multiple options to refine your search.

Evaluating websites

The following are some criteria to consider when evaluating websites.

Authority	Accuracy	Objectivity	Currency	Coverage
1. Who wrote the material?	1. Are the sources of information listed so they can be verified?	1. What is the purpose of the page?	1. Does the page include the date it was written?	1. What topics are covered?
2. Is the author qualified/expert?	2. Are methods described?	2. Is the page designed to sway opinions	2. Does the page have additional dates indicating when it was posted to the web or last revised?	2. What does the page offer that is not available elsewhere?
3. Is it clear who is responsible for the page? Is there information about the host site or sponsoring organization?	3. Is the information free of grammatical, spelling and typographical errors?	3. Is the information free of advertising?	3. If the page presents data, does it indicate when the data was gathered?	3. Is the page complete or under construction?
4. Is the sponsor reputable?	4. Are charts and graphs of data clearly labeled and easy to read?	4. If there is advertising is it clearly differentiated from the information?	4. How current are links?