The Essential Guide to Using the Web for Research
- Nigel Ford - Sheffield University, UK
Nigel Ford shows how using the web poses opportunities and challenges that impact on student research at every level, and he explains the skills needed to navigate the web and use it effectively to produce high quality work.
Ford connects online skills to the research process. He helps readers to understand research questions and how to answer them by constructing arguments and presenting evidence in ways that will enhance their impact and credibility.
The book includes clear and helpful coverage of beginner and advanced search tools and techniques, as well as the processes of:
@!critically evaluating online information
@!creating and presenting evidence-based arguments
@!organizing, storing and sharing information
@!referencing, copyright and plagiarism.
As well as providing all the basic techniques students need to find high quality information on the web, this book will help readers use this information effectively in their own research.
Nigel Ford is Professor in the University of Sheffield's Information School.
Well structured, thorough, accessibly written and presented, Nigel Ford uses lots of charts, diagrams and step-by-step guides to steer the reader... It is primarily targeted at undergraduate and postgraduate students who will definitely find it invaluable when setting out on their dissertations and theses...That said, this guide will prove equally useful for professional researchers in any field...Overall I consider this a very useful and timely book. Indeed I wish I'd seen it many years ago. Its key strengths are its pertinence to researchers' current needs, thoroughness, detailed discussions, accessibility, step by step approach and supply of handy techniques and tips.
Berni Graham
SRA News
Ford offers the answers to the question of how to find interesting web material for your research and it is clear that here is where Ford’s expertise comes through. Personally, I use mainly Google, Picarta and some catalogues of universities and research institutions. Ford offers a number of additions to my repertoire. In addition to Google, he includes SciVerse Scopus and Web of Knowledge and advises that a systematic search strategy should constantly be evaluated and, if necessary, adjusted.
An excellent text which gives researchers the theory of research design and the knowledge and insight to be able to practice and master the skills. This is an essential read for any researcher looking to use the internet for primary, secondary or tertiary study.
I would recommend this book to my Master as well as to my PhD students as an essential guide for systematic research using the Web.
Great text to accompany composition courses. It asks good questions about our uses and understandings of the internet in relation to writing.
This book provides a detailed and thorough guide for structuring diploma projects at any level. It would also be helpful for semester research projects in cases where the students are proficient users of English.
Excellent addition for supplementary reading.
This book could be useful to prepare the syllabus but not as an essential reading for the students. We are not improving practical skills but a critical knowledge about limits and opportunity offered by the web for research.
A very good text that helps students develop digital literacy skills empowering them to critically select appropriate material via the internet. Highly recommended
Easy to read and very comprehensive.
