ACHS Science Fair: Websites

Know what you're looking for and use related words or synonyms to get better search results. 

Why? Read about how Google's search algorithm works here. 

  harriet tubman "underground railroad" site:.edu

7,810 results

 What was Harriet Tubman's role in the underground railroad?

31,800 results

Here's how to craft a better search to get fewer and more relevant results:

• Identify the main ideas in your research question.
        What was Harriet Tubman's role in the Underground Railroad?
   
• Use quotation marks around 2 or more words that need to be together.
        "underground railroad"
   
• Limit your search to a specific domain, such as .edu, .gov, or .org.
        harriet tubman "underground railroad" site:.edu

More information on advanced Google searching and Google Scholar.

Stop > Investigate the Source > Find Better Coverage > Trace Claims, Quotes, & Media

Finding information on the internet is easy, but anyone can publish anything on line. Know the different types of sources available to you!

When you use Google or social media to find information, how do you know it can be trusted? How do you know it's not biased?

You can feel fairly confident that articles in a library database and books you find in a library are reliable because someone (the database company or publisher) has fact-checked data used and arguments made before publishing them.

Watch the video below to learn how to evaluate an article like a professional fact checker.