kellies research clinic the best websites that will get you what you need fast
TRANSCRIPT
Kellie’s Research Clinic
The best websites that will get you what you need fast
My Brain
• Good at using computer as a tool
• Not good at technical/programming/data mining
• Less a computer geek, more of a research nerd – and everything here I learned from someone else
• Love it, hate it
• Broad search, ranks sites, not complete
• Keyword search engines search the DB for any web pages that contain words that you specify
• Need to know effective keyword searching
• vacation hawaii the words vacation and Hawaii • Maui OR Hawaii either the word Maui or the word Hawaii• "To each his own" the exact phrase to each his own• virus–computer the word virus but NOT the word
computer• +sock Only the word sock, and not the plural or any
tenses or synonyms• ~auto loan loan info for both the word auto and its
synonyms: truck, car, etc.• define: computer definitions of the word computer
from around the Web• red * blue the words red and blue separated by one or
more words• I'm Feeling Lucky Takes you directly to first web page returned for your
query.
ADVANCED OPERATORS
MEANING WHAT TO TYPE INTO SEARCH BOX
site: Search only one website
admission site:www.stanford.edu(Search Stanford Univ. site for admissions info.)
[#]…[#]
Search within a range of numbers
DVD player $100..150(Search for DVD players between $100 and $150)
link: linked pages
link:www.stanford.edu(Find pages that link to the Stanford University website.)
info: Info about a page
info:www.stanford.edu(Find information about the Stanford University website.)
related: Related pages
related:www.stanford.edu(Find websites related to the Stanford University website.)
Who is John Doe?previous addresses, relatives, associates? www.accurint.com
home phone? reverse directory; who else is there www.anywho.com/rl.html
is dead? Social Security Death Index, ancestry.com and rootsweb.com Obit search: http://www.ancestorhunt.com/washington_newspaper_obituaries.htm
lives in a neighborhood? see an aerial photo http://maps.google.com/
holds a professional license DOH, DFI, DOL
registered/credentialed/certified? lobbyists, attorneys, pilots
County Records
bought, sold or owns real estate?
Find deeds, mortgages, judgments, liens, marriage licenses, etc.
Assessor’s office
Website Ownership
runs a Web site?
http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp
Do a WHOIS search:
www.martinlutherking.org
Internet CemeteryFind old Web pages, You Tube Videos
• http://www.archive.org/index.php
• http://youtomb.mit.edu/
was involved in a lawsuit, bankruptcy, divorce, probate, criminal or traffic violations?
SCOMIS/JIS-LINK Washington Find My Court Date
PACER
Federal Background Check
votes?
http://www.soundpolitics.com/voterlookup.html
tip: very, very useful for addresses and DOBS
Voter Registration
works for the government?
state: www.lbloom.nettip: very useful for confirmation, salary, middle initial
federal: http://php.app.com/fed_employees/search.php
State Employees
works for a private company?
• charity or nonprofit?
• business licenses?
• corporate charter documents?
• officer or major owner of publicly owned company
People Finders
• PIPL
www.pipl.com
• Social networking sites
www.yoname.com
Story Color
Demographics
• www.epodunk.com
• www.census.gov
• www.fedstats.gov
Potential Pitfalls
• Wikipedia– Has no authority– Can be edited by anyone– Their mistake is your mistake– Good road map, though
• Dow Corporation – BBC
Getting Organized
• Bookmarks
• Excel is your friend– Master story list– Turning documents into data
ex. Police incident reports
The End – you made it!