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The internet is full of content. Web pages are searched and
indexed on content. But what is "content"? Simply put, Content is
information.
However, web pages are only useful if people that want what
you have can find them. That is why they are indexed (like the index in a book).
Search engines index web pages in a variety of ways. A search engine employs
special software robots called spiders. When a spider is building its list, the
process is called crawling. One of the most common ways to index information is
to build a hash table.
To find out more about how the search engines work and how to
make your web site optimized for different search engines, right click on the
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Information is in the form of text. In the past, search
engines did not care about the form of the text. The same Word could be repeated
over and over and considered text. Today, search engines have been created that
recognize this and other tricks to make them think that meaningless text is true
content. One of the best ways to create content today is to do the research and
write meaningful information, such as articles, stories and blogs.
Having the correct information is as important to
the author, struggling to finish that next "best seller",
as it is to the business executive trying to make a corporate mid-course
correction, the student trying to finish a term paper or the webmaster for
that new web page.
Research is defined as (by Merriam-Webster online):
1 :
careful or diligent search
2 : studious inquiry or examination; especially :
investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation
of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts,
or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws
3 : the collecting of information about a particular subject
However, when researching a topic you can not find out
everything about that subject. Research should contain a problem that the reader
will recognize as a problem. Posing a problem at the beginning of the research
will generally eliminate a lot of extraneous material.
The web site (http://www.sunoasis.com/freelanceresearch.html)
notes that sources for research can include:
- Scholarly or peer-reviewed journals
- Edited or authored books
- First-person accounts
- Interviews
- Case studies
- Surveys
- Academic journals, monographs, handbooks and encyclopedias
- Digests of research
- Newspapers
- Statistics
- Legal and governmental information
- News on current or controversial issues not yet discussed in the journal
literature.
There are still many print sources available for research.
Libraries are still large depositories of printed material. Much background
material on any research project may well be obtained from the library shelves.
In addition, one source for magazines or periodicals is
Ulrich's International Periodical
Directory. It indexes magazines by subject. Librarians are also valuable
resources in finding printed materials for a research project.
One of the main research tools available today is the
internet. When using the net keep in mind the following tips (as suggested on
http://www.sunoasis.com/freelanceresearch.html):
- Check the date of content as well as the date of the Web page.
- Can you find the author's identity and credentials?
- Do you detect bias in the author?
- Keep notes on your research and file them away so you can use them
again.
One example of a Library online is the University of
California - Santa Barbara web site (http://www.library.ucsb.edu/subjects/writingwrit.html).
This gives information on writing and research.
Fact checking is also important to good research. To check
facts, keep in mind the following:
One good paper entitled Evaluating Sources of Information
can be found at:
http://www.library.ucsb.edu/libinst/lib101/evaluate.html
Another paper entitled How do I Know What's Good on the
Web - Evaluating Sites can be found at:
http://www.library.ucsb.edu/libinst/lib101/webfaq08.html
The
Online
Writing Lab at Perdue University has some good resources about where to
start research about a topic on the internet.
Some other resources for anyone wanting to research are
listed below:
Researching for Freelance Writers
Trend Spotting
Factcheck.org
Conducting
Research on the Internet - Albany University Library
FacsNet.org
Wikipedia.org
My Research Services
After researching, writing and publishing two books
involved with the technical subject of water use and availability in our world,
I understand the need for accurate, up to date information. Much of this
research involved sorting through the massive amount of information on the
internet and in publications at libraries. It was time consuming, and tiring,
but very necessary to complete a textbook quality book.
We can also provide editing and indexing services
for those projects that need to be polishing and organized.
As one who enjoys
research, I can help you make that project a reality. Please email or call me to discuss your research, editing or
indexing needs.
info@tmcco.com
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