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Research Resources
Started by Shirley Tessler 14 April 2006; updated 16 April 2006, 19 April 2006, 14 April 2007
The purpose of this page is two-fold: (1) to provide some tips on how to get started doing the research for your projects; and (2) to illustrate that there are many more search resources and tools beyond Google and Wikipedia. Many of the resources focus on specific domains or specific types of information objects. Depending on the project topic you have chosen, you may find one or more of these resources relevant. Think broadly about what other resources mght be available for your particular project.
This page is still very much under construction. Please feel free to add, delete and comment on any pointers below.
General Research Tips- Read what experts and practitioners in the field read
- Magazines and journals -- subscribe to their (usually free) electronic newsletters offering at least the headlines of news and research important to the domain
- Blogs that others in the domain regularly refer to
- On-line forums -- learn the concerns and trends; identify the experts; ask questions if possible
- Check for interesting talks and research going on at Stanford in your chosen domain
- Look for the relevant professional societies and trade organizations
- Read their research reports, subscribe to their clipping services, attend local organization talks
- Check out the conferences and trade shows
- Read transcripts or slides of relevant talks
- Attend local conferences or trade shows, or visit their exhibition halls (usually free or cheap) and talk with exhibitors
- Examine the websites of your "competitors". Whether your project is a commercial site or a public benefit site, there are inevitably others in the world doing similar things.
- Many of them collect articles or data on their areas of interest, and/or have published white papers
- Learn what industry analysts have to say about the business areas
- Their websites might have free papers on relevant subjects; also note that the Stanford library system subscribes to several of these analysts' services
- Communicate with the experts directly
- Have good informed questions
- Communicate with others directly
- Interviews
- Surveys, questionnaires
- Other suggestions for your classmates? What has worked for you?
The Hidden Web
The "Hidden Web" or "Deep Web" refers to content that is not indexed by search engines. This content includes dynamic web pages, limited access sites that require registration or which deliberately exclude access (and therefore capture) by search engine crawlers, and pages which produce non-text content with Javascript, Flash or other programs. Some of these sites may offer valuable information that will be useful for your projects. Usually even these sites have a front page indexed by a search engine or have been pointed to by other sites in the same subject area. It would be best to take some time to explore within these "hidden" sites for useful content. Some web sites, whether they shield their content from search engine crawlers or not, require registration or subscription to access. For example, your search may turn up a pointer to an article in a newspaper, but you will only be able to read the abstract without paying for a complete subscription, or paying a smaller fee to access just the one article. Before you pay any fees at all, do check the Stanford Libraries as they have site licenses for a large number of publications.
Search Engines, Specialized Databases & Tools
Books and other media online Economics, Law and Government
Government-funded International Organizations Private Foundations News
General news search Directories of newspapers worldwide People - Zabasearch Finds names, addresses and birthdates
- ZoomInfo Creates a biography of a person automatically from information mined from the web
- Social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn
- Virtual societies like Second Life, where members are offering substantial and novel content for registered users
Reference Materials Scientific and Scholarly Information Search
Search Tools
Searching for Specialized Search Engines and Databases Blog Directories and Search; Social Bookmarking
Tools for Reading,Storing & Organizing Web Information
Writing References
Still working on the links below this point:Search Analysts, Reviews and Recommendations
Other
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