Synopses & Reviews
"Cheat Sheet" with Research Tips and Shortcuts Inside!
Find Out How to Use the Web Effectively for All Kinds of Research Projects! Ever been caught in a maze of irrelevant Web links that draw you further and further away from the topic you were trying to research? Researching Online For Dummies® shows you how to stay focused, find just what you need on the Net, and apply that information to the project you're working on. Valuable Bonus CD Includes:
- Microsoft's popular Web browser
- Netscape's powerful Web browser
- Northern Light: Excerpts of help files from this useful search engine
- Acrobat Reader: For viewing and printing PDF files
Shareware programs are fully functional, free trial versions of copyrighted programs. If you like particular programs, register with their authors for a nominal fee and receive licenses, enhanced versions, and technical support. Freeware programs are free, copyrighted games, applications, and utilities. You can copy them to as many PCs as you like free but they have no technical support. System Requirements: 486 or faster PC with Windows 3.1 or later, or a Mac OS computer with OS 7.5 or later; at least 16MB of RAM; CD-ROM drive (2x or faster); and an Internet connection (14,400 BPS or faster modem or network regular access charges apply)
Inside, find helpful advice on how to:
- Choose the best search engine for your research project
- Use search tools specialized for your area of interest
- Link up with a virtual guru for guidance on your quest
- Get just what you need from online libraries, archives, and gated information services
- Tackle governmental cyber-bureaucracy like a special agent
- Make the most of the business and investing data on the Web
- Verify your information, deal with copyright issues, and cite online resources properly
Synopsis
The collections of world's libraries, institutions, and reference archives are quickly making their way online. It's very possible to dig through ancient and modern research sources via a computer hooked up to the Internet. Researching Online For Dummies provides all the necessary guides a researcher needs to plan, undertake, and apply online sources to a project. The book introduces readers to making the most cost-efficient online connection, finding and using various search engines and specialized research tools, using Internet and online services, getting information from discussion groups and forums, sifting through all of the information to find the gems, verifying information, copyright issues, and adding it all to a report or presentation. Researching Online For Dummies also contains a directory customized for the online researcher.
The CD contains the software needed to connect to a select online service provider as well as various demo and free tools for collecting, archiving, and presenting research, a Web browser, and an HTML file with links to the directory sites.
Description
System requirements for accompanying computer disc: 486 or faster PC with Windows 3.1 or later; or a Mac OS computer with OS 7.5 or later; at least 16MB of RAM; CD-ROM drive (2x or faster); and a Internet connection (14,400 BPS or faster modem or network).
About the Author
About Reva Basch Reva Basch, prolific writer and speaker, ran her own online research business for more than ten years. She has been published extensively in information industry journals and has keynoted at conferences across the world.
Table of Contents
Introduction: The Wide World of Researching Online.
PART I: Getting Started.
Chapter 1: The Many Faces of Online.
Chapter 2: Thinking and Working Like a Researcher.
PART II: The Tools of the Trade.
Chapter 3: The Search Engine Sweepstakes.
Chapter 4: Using Specialty Search Engines.
Chapter 5: Subject Catalogs: The Narrow-Down Approach.
Chapter 6: Playing the Links: Guru Pages, Mega-Sites, and Web Rings.
Chapter 7: Ready Reference: Finding Facts Fast.
Chapter 8: Visiting Libraries Online.
Chapter 9: Knock, Knock: Gated Information Services.
Chapter 10: The Personal Touch.
PART III: Putting It All Together.
Chapter 11: Strange New Worlds: Penetrating the Mysteries of Government, Medical, and Sci-Tech Research.
Chapter 12: Strictly Business.
Chapter 13: Read All About It: News Media and Publications Online.
PART IV: The Broader Picture.
Chapter 14: Keeping up with the Online Jones(es).
Chapter 15: The Big Issues: Copyright, Information Use, and Quality.
PART V: The Part of Tens.
Chapter 16: Ten Timeless Truths about Search Engines.
Chapter 17: Ten Clarifying Questions for Better Research Results.
Chapter 18: Ten Trends to Keep an Eye On.
Appendix: About the CD.
Index.
License Agreement.
Installation Instructions.
Book Registration Information.