Page 168 - Keys To Community College Success

company’s site is likely to promote its products; an article in a scholarly journal
may focus on research findings.
5. Save, or bookmark, the sites you want to focus on. Make sure you can access
them again. You may want to copy URLs and paste them into a separate docu-
ment. Consider printing Internet materials that you know you will need to refer-
ence over and over again.
6. When you think you are done, start over. Choose another search engine and search
again. Different systems access different sites.
The limitations of Internet-only research make it smart to combine Internet and
library research. Search engines cannot find everything for several reasons:
■ Not all sources are in digital format.
■ The Internet prioritizes current information and may not find older
information.
■ Some digital sources may not be part of your library’s subscription offerings.
■ Internet searches require electricity or battery power and an online connection.

Use the Internet as a starting point to get an idea of the various documents you
may want to locate in the library and read in print. When you find a blog or website
that provides only a short extract of important information and then references the
rest, find that original article or book and read the information in its entirety. Often,
risking the time and effort that extra searching takes will reward you with more accu-
rate, in-depth, and useful information.
Your need to be an effective researcher doesn’t stop at graduation, especially in a
workplace dominated by information and media. The skills you develop as you research
school projects will serve you well in any kind of job that requires use of the Internet
and other resources to find and evaluate information.

HOW CAN YOU RESPOND CRITICALLY
to what you read?
5 Question everything you read—books, articles, online documents, and even text-
CHAPTER books (which are supposed to be as accurate as possible). Think of the critical reading

process as an archaeological dig. First, you excavate a site and uncover the artifacts.
Then you sort what you’ve found, make connections among items, and judge their
importance. This process of questioning, analysis, and evaluation rewards you with the
ability to focus on the most important materials.
Reading for different purposes engages different parts of critical reading. When
you read to learn and retain information or to master a skill, you focus on impor-
tant information (analyzing and evaluating how the ideas are structured, how they
connect, and what is most crucial to remember). When you read to search for truth,
you ask questions to evaluate arguments (analyzing and evaluating the author’s
point of view as well as the credibility, accuracy, reliability, and relevancy of
the material).

Focus on Important Information
Before determining how to respond to something you’ve read, ask yourself what is
important and what you need to remember. According to Adam Robinson, co-founder
of The Princeton Review, “The only way you can effectively absorb the relevant infor-
mation is to ignore the irrelevant information.” The following questions should help
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you determine what is relevant (if you answer “yes,” it’s probably relevant):

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