Left click to hear a sound recording of
PART ONE: ABOUT THIS E-BOOK
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using the down arrow key or the mouse
7019 Words
On
Searching for
Psychological Information on the Internet
This website
is designed to help you find psychological information on the Internet, with
conventional and specialized search engines.
However, most of the techniques, search engines, browsers, and toolbars,
discussed are useful for finding information on any subject.
By David Alderoty
August 2008
Phone (212)
581-3740
E-mail is
RunDavid@Verizon.net
Scroll down to read this e-book
using the down arrow key or the mouse
Read This First: Instructions On How To Use This
E-Book Optimally
How To Return To This
E-Book From Another Website
This e-book contains a large number of links
that will take you to various websites when you click on them. To return to this e-book, after viewing one of
these websites, click on the left arrow 
on the
upper, left portion of your screen, one or more times, until you are back to
this e-book. Clicking on the left arrow
can also return you to the table of contents, from various sections of the book.
This Book Contains Sound Recordings Of The Text
This e-book contains
an audio narration of the text, which is recorded in three audio files. If you want to listen to the sound
recordings, left click on the following hyperlinks. Click on only one link at a time. (Note, in some cases, it can take one or two
minutes for the sound files to download, after you click on the hyperlink.)
Left click to hear a sound recording of
PART ONE: ABOUT THIS E-BOOK
(About 8 minutes)
Left click to hear a sound recording of PART
TWO: SEARCH METHODS (About 38 minutes)
Left click to hear a sound recording of
PART THREE: USEFUL RESOURCES (About 16 minutes)
Incidentally,
the sound recordings were produced with text-to-speech software, but the voice
you hear sounds like a professional announcer.
However, you might occasionally hear a slight pronunciation error.
Website links In This
E-Book
This e-book contains hyperlinks
(Web links) to a large number of search engines, directories, and websites that
provide information on psychology. To
access any of the above, left click with the mouse on the relevant hyperlinks.
I placed red headings on the most useful website links, and
these links are listed in the table of contents. The following is an example.
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE http://www.dialogical.net/psychology/index.html Words on website: Psychology
World Wide Web Virtual Library
The Table Of
Contents Consists Of A Series Of Hyperlinks
The
following table of contents consists of a series of hyperlinks. Left click with the mouse on the link to go
to the section of the book you are interested in reading.
(All of
the hyperlinks in this book are blue in color.)
Table
of contents
Read This First: Instructions On How To Use
This E-Book Optimally
How
To Return To This E-Book From Another Website
This
Book Contains Sound Recordings Of The Text
The
Table Of Contents Consists Of A Series Of Hyperlinks
The
Search Strategies Presented On This Website Has Wide Application
Another
Helpful Strategy Is To Create Icons Of Search Engines And Websites That You
Find Useful
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE MyfavoriteSearchEngines.zip
How To Create Shortcut Icons For Your
Favorite Websites And Search Engines With Internet Explorer
Specialized
And Conventional Search Engines
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE http://scholar.google.com/
How
To Find Your Own Specialized Search Engines
The
Advantages Of Conventional Search Engines
The Psychological Journals on the Internet
Libraries, and Electronic Libraries
A
List Of Conventional Search Engines
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE http://www.google.com
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE http://search.yahoo.com
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE http://www.ask.com/
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE http://www.live.com/
Search
Engines Designed To Find Internet Videos
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE http://video.search.yahoo.com/video
Quotation
Marks To Increase Selectivity Of Search Engines
Girafa Toolbar, Free Software With A Number
of Search Engines
The Advanced Searchbar With Many Search
Engines
Advanced Searchbar http://www.advancedsearchbar.com/
The Small Risks of Downloading Software
What Is The Difference Between A Browser And
A Search Engine?
A List Of Six Browsers, That Can Be
Downloaded For Free From The Internet
Search Strategies To Use When You Have An
Extremely Challenging Problem, Goal, Study, Or Experiment
When
You Are Faced With The Most Difficult Challenges Try The Following Techniques
Break
Your Problem Or Goal Into A Series Of Factors, And Use The Factors As Search
Phrases
Make
A List Of Search Terms By Brainstorming
Website
Links And The Goal Is To Find What You Want On The Internet
Search
Pages Useful For The Psychological Sciences
Specialized
Search Engines And Directories For The Psychological Sciences
http://www.dialogical.net/psychology/journals.html
Words on website: Psychology WWW Virtual Library
Introduction
To Videos On The Internet
Video
Search Engines And Directories
Video
Search Pages, For The Psychological Sciences
PART TWO: SEARCH METHODS
In Most
Cases, You Should Start Your Search, With The
Simplest Common Sense Strategies, And Proceed To More Complex Search Techniques
If You Do Not Obtain Satisfactory Results
With most searches, the simplest strategies produce
successful results, fairly quickly and easily. This is especially the case for basic
information needed for introductory college courses in psychology, and social
psychology. However, if you are
gathering information for a research project, with an unusual or highly specialized
subject, you will probably get better results with some of the more
sophisticated search strategies discussed in this e-book. If you are conducting any type of complex
study, and you need information and ideas from every perspective that is
available on the Internet, you will also need to use some of the more complex
strategies presented in this e-book. If
you are working on any type of challenging problem, study, or experiment that
relates to the psychological sciences, you might also have to use some of the
more complex strategies discussed on this website.
The idea to keep in mind is to use the appropriate
strategy for your Internet searching task.
The general rule is to start with less complex strategies. Then, if you do not get optimum results, try
progressively more complex search techniques in a trial and error process,
until you succeed.
Whenever
You Find Information Carefully Analyze And
Evaluate It, Especially If You Found It On The Internet
Any information you obtain should be evaluated, by common
sense assessments, and comparing it to other sources. This is especially the case if you obtained
the information from the Internet. When
the information is for a school assignment, you can ask your instructor’s
opinion, and/or compare it with information in your textbook. Sometimes, you can evaluate information by
experimenting, such as by testing a method to determine if it is useful for
you.
There are many unique ideas and opinions on the
Internet. Some of these ideas and
opinions may not be widely known or accepted at this time. This does not necessarily mean the
information is invalid. Nevertheless,
such information generally will not be suitable for an academic assignment that
is focused on presenting information that is widely excepted. However, if you are writing any type of paper
that is focused on diverse views, such information might be quite suitable,
especially if you indicate the source, as opposed to presenting the information
as absolute fact. For example, according
to Mr. X A equals B. In such a case,
even if Mr. X concept is incorrect, you will still be reporting his ideas
accurately.
Keep in mind unique concepts, created by authors on the Internet,
must be credited in academic papers. In
other words, the same rules apply to information obtained from the Internet, as
information obtained from conventional hard copy books and periodicals.
The easiest way to evaluate information is simply
to check out a number of websites that contain similar subject matter. Some of these websites should be from a
university, major school of higher learning, or one or more accepted
authorities on the subject.
The above of course, does not confirms
the absolute validity of
information. This becomes obvious if you
examine history. Many erroneous or
partly incorrect ideas were accepted as truth or fact by respected academic
authorities. However, if you are
interested in determining the status of the material that you obtained from a
website, you can easily determine if it is widely accepted at this time by the academic
community, with the technique mentioned above.
Based on my personal experience, and the
many websites I have looked at, most of the information on the Internet is
quite accurate. However, when a
manufacturer or retailer is trying to sell items, especially nutritional
supplements, there is often questionable claims or
exaggerations on their websites. A
similar type of distortion is often seen with licensed medical providers, and
the agencies that represent them. This
consists of concealing or minimizing the failure rates, and side effects
associated with certain types of medical treatments.
In general, I have not noticed much of a difference
in the overall validity, of printed material, and the websites I visited. However, this might not apply to the websites
that you are visiting, and you should always double check information, as I do,
even if it is from a reliable source.
The
Search Strategies Presented On This Website Has Wide Application
The methodology used on this website has wide application for many
subjects, beside psychology. It includes
gathering website links to specialized search engines and websites, focused on
a subject, and placing them in an electronic document. The document can be any format that supports hyperlinks,
such as a conventional website, a Microsoft Word document, and many other word
processor formats. When this is done,
the search engine or hyperlink can be opened directly from the electronic
document, by left clicking on it with the mouse. All of this will become obvious as you use
the material in this website.
Another Helpful Strategy Is To Create Icons Of Search Engines And Websites
That You Find Useful
A
useful strategy is to make shortcut icons of your favorite search engines, and
websites, and placed them on your Windows desktop, or any other convenient
location on your computer. You can place
your favorite shortcut icons in a conventional computerized folder. A good example can be seen by clicking on the
following hyperlink. This will open a
zipped folder, which contains icons for over 100 useful search engines and
directories.
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE MyfavoriteSearchEngines.zip
The above raises the question: how to create shortcut
icons that will open websites. This is
discussed under the following subheading.
How To Create Shortcut Icons For Your
Favorite Websites And Search Engines With Internet Explorer
To create an icon for a search
engine or website, when using Internet Explorer do the following:
1) Go to the web page that has
the search engine, journal, or information that you need on a regular basis.
2) Place the mouse pointer
(arrow) any place on the web page.
3) Right click with the mouse,
and you will see a menu that has a number of options on it, such as the
following:
4) Look
carefully at the menu, and you will see as one of the options Create
Shortcut.
5) Place the mouse pointer
(arrow) on the word: Create Shortcut, and then left click, and a box will
appear on the screen, such as the following:
6) The box has two buttons, Yes
and No. Place the mouse pointer (arrow)
on the Yes button and left click.
After this is done, an icon will be placed on your Windows desktop.
7) Test the icon by placing the
mouse pointer (arrow) on the icon, and double left click. If the icon functions properly, it will open
the website.
If you
want additional information on how to create Internet
shortcut icons see the following websites:
http://www.computertim.com/howto/article.php?topic=windows&idn=109 Words
on website: Create an Internet Shortcut
http://vlaurie.com/computers2/Articles/shortcuts1.htm
Words
on website: Windows XP Your Way: Customizing Shortcuts
There is a good alternative to
creating shortcut icons for websites, which is the Add to Favorites
function, in the Windows operating system.
(Examine the following screenshots, as you read the following
instructions.) To use this function,
when you are on a website, including a search engine website, examine the top
of your screen. You will see, File,
Edit, View, Favorite, Tools, Help. (Your configuration may very somewhat,
depending on the version of Windows that you have installed on your
computer.) Then click on Favorites,
and you will see a menu open, and then click on Add to Favorites. When this
is done, another dialog box will open.
On this box click on the word Add.
When
you want to open a website, that you have stored, in the Windows Add to
Favorite function, left click on the word favorite, and then scroll down to
the website link that you want to open.
After this left click or press the enter key, and the website will
open. See the following screenshot:
Specialized And
Conventional Search Engines
Search engines can be placed into two general categories, conventional
and specialized. Conventional
search engines are designed to find all types of information, including
elementary articles, and websites that are selling various products. Specialized search engines are
designed to find a specific type of information, such as scholarly articles, or
websites that deal with a subject, such as psychology.
An effective strategy when searching for
psychological information, or any academic material, is to use specialized
search engines intended for the purpose.
A general idea to consider whenever you are looking for academic or
professional level information is to try to find specialized search engines
first with the conventional search engines.
Then search for the information you want with the specialized search
engines.
The above strategy can help you avoid elementary
material, and websites that are selling products. However, if you want basic information that is widely available, such as information on
B. F. Skinner, it may not be necessary to use specialized search engines. On the other hand, if you want to explore
information in the academic journals, you would probably be more successful if
you used a specialized search engine.
A good example of a specialized search engine is Google
Scholar. This search engine is not
the same as the conventional Google search engine. Google Scholar is a good resource for
anyone that wants to find academic information, especially at the advanced
levels. Click on the following hyperlink
to explore the utility of this search engine.
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE http://scholar.google.com/
Part three of this e-book, provides a detailed list of
specialized search engines, directories, and search pages focused on
psychology.
Collecting Hyperlinks To Search
Pages, Focused On The Subject Area You Are Interested Is A Useful Strategy
A useful technique is to create
hyperlinks to search pages that contain websites that cover the field that you
are studying. For example, if you are
interested in Social Psychology, insert these words into one or more
search engines, and save the hyperlinks.
I did this with, Google, Google scholar, and Yahoo,
and the results can be seen by clicking on the following hyperlinks.
Search
phrase with Google: “Social Psychology”
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22Social+Psychology%22 The result is 6,200,000 web pages
Search
phrase with Google scholar: “Social Psychology”
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=%22Social+Psychology%22&btnG=Search The result is 1,070,000 web pages
Search
phrase with Yahoo search: “Social Psychology”
http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0geu.NpHZZIzZAAl7yl87UF?p=%E2%80%9CSocial+Psychology%E2%80%9D&ei=UTF-8&iscqry=&fr=sfp The result is 15,300,000 web pages
Incidentally,
the number of web pages that you find on the search page, will probably not be
the same as indicated above. These
numbers periodically change. This
usually involves an increase in the number of web pages.
How To Find
Your Own Specialized Search Engines
To find specialized search
engines, and directories, start with a conventional search engine, such as
Google. Then, use search phrases similar
to the following:
"psychological
search engine"
"search
engine for social psychology"
"Search engine for
psychology students"
"Search engine for
psychotherapists"
"Search engine for
psychology instructors"
"Search engine for social
psychology"
"Search engine for
Industrial psychology"
"Search engine for
abnormal psychology"
"Search engine for
psychological research"
"Search engine for
psychologists"
"Search engine for
psychiatry"
"Search engine for industrial
psychology"
"Search engine for hypnosis"
"Search engine for clinical
psychology"
Note, the search phrases are in quotation marks,
which increases the selectivity of the search.
Sometimes you may have better results by using quotation marks, and at
other times just the opposite will be the case. This
will be discussed in more detail later on in this text.
Keep in mind the above are presented as examples,
and to find search phrases that provide the results you need is a trial and
error process.
Substitute
the word Directory, in the
above list, for the phrase Search engine, if you are looking for a website that is in the directory format, or if
you had no luck finding, the specialized search engine you were seeking. If you are looking for information that is
not related to psychology, simply substitute the words that relates to the
subject. For example, if you are looking
for information on physics, and you want to find specialized search engines or
directories for this subject, create search phrases such as the following:
“Search
engine for physics”
“Directory
for physics”
The Advantages Of
Conventional Search Engines
Under certain circumstances
conventional search engines might provide better results, then specialized
search engines. For example, if you were
looking for elementary information, or articles on psychology written for the general public, you would probably have more success with
conventional search engines. If you were
looking for practical psychological information, you might also obtain more success
with conventional search engines.
The Psychological Journals on
the Internet
Another way of finding
psychological information on the Internet is to use the psychological
journals. I have found that one of the
easiest ways to use the journals is to start by entering words similar to the
phrases that were used to find specialized psychological search engines, but
use the word journals instead of search engines.
Most of
the psychological journals, have websites and search functions that allow you to
search through all of their published material.
Some of these publications, have sophisticated search engines that allow
you to search through a number of other journals on the Internet.
Unfortunately,
the journals often want money for their published material, which can sometimes
range from $10 to $40 for an article, unless you are paying their regular
yearly rates. However, they usually will
allow you to read the abstracts without charge, and many of the journals will
provide their older articles for free. However, a few journals have a free access
policy.
The following search for psychological journals in Google
resulted in approximately 53,700,000 search results. I repeated this search with the phrase “free
access” and I obtained 129,000 results.
To examine these results click on the icons or Web addresses listed
below. Of course, many of these results
may not be of much value, unless you select the websites that are useful for
your specific needs.
Keep in
mind that Google has a mechanism that allows you to search, within search
results. To use this function, go to the
bottom of the search page, and click on Search within results.
Search
phrase with Google: Journal Psychological OR psychology http://www.google.com/search?as_q=Journal&num=100&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=Psychological+psychology&as_eq=&lr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=&safe=images
Search
phrase with Google: Psychology OR psychological journals "free access” http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Psychology+OR+psychological+journals+%22free+access&btnG=Google+Search
Libraries, and
Electronic Libraries
Another method is to search for
libraries on the Internet that specialize in psychological information. This can be done by inserting phrases, such
as psychology, psychological, social psychology, industrial
psychology, with phrases such as library, electronic library,
tape library, video library, Internet library, etc. If you are interested in conventional books,
use the word library. If you are
interested in downloading written material on the Internet, use the words
electronic library. If you are
interested in recorded material, try video or audio library. Of course, this is a trial and error process,
and you may or may not obtain what you are searching for. The following search pages are examples of results
that I have obtained.
Search
phrase with Google: “Psychological libraries” http://www.google.com/search?as_q=&num=100&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=Psychological+libraries&as_oq=&as_eq=&lr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=&safe=images
Search
phrase with Google: Psychology video libraries http://www.google.com/search?as_q=Psychology+video+libraries&num=100&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&lr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=&safe=images
A List Of
Conventional Search Engines
There are a number of
conventional search engines, and in spite of their limitations, they are in effect
valuable computer programs. Keep in mind
that with the conventional search engines you can search for the academic and
specialized search engines that are focused on psychology.
Based
on my personal preference, I would list Google as the best by far, followed by
Yahoo. There are other conventional
search engines, besides the above. Each
of these engines has their own unique advantages and disadvantages. Below, there are a number of website links
for conventional search engines. You can
use these search engines directly from this document, by clicking on the
website links.
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE http://www.google.com
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE http://search.yahoo.com
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE http://www.hotbot.com/
http://channels.netscape.com/search/
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL
RESOURCE http://www.ask.com/
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL
RESOURCE http://www.live.com/
For
additional information on search engines, see the following websites.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_search_engines
Words on website: List of search engines
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engines
Words on website: Web
search engine
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/MetaSearch.html
Words on website: Meta-Search Engines
http://www.pandia.com/goalgetter/index.html Words on website: A short and easy search
engine tutorial
http://www.monash.com/spidap.html
Words on website: A Helpful Guide To Web Search Engines
http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html Words on website: Choose the Best Search
for Your Information Need
Search Engines Designed To Find Internet Videos
There are many videos on the
Internet, and there are specialized search engines to find videos, which are
listed at the end of this paragraph.
Videos
can sometimes be quite helpful when studying certain aspects of psychology,
especially in terms of its practical application. For example, viewing and listening to videos
on relaxation techniques, provides precise details that cannot be easily
conveyed with text. This will become
apparent if you click on the following hyperlink and view the list of videos on
relaxation techniques. http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=relaxation+techniques&hl=en&sitesearch=#
Many of
the Internet videos that I have come across are focused on practical applications,
and are not focused on academic level material, but there are some
exceptions. Sometimes it is possible to
obtain a detailed lecture at a college level or above. There are also psychological experiments that
are videotaped, and presented on the Internet.
The
best strategy is to search to see what is available, which you can do with the
following list of video search engines.
(There is more information on this topic in part three of this e-book.)
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE http://video.google.com/
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE http://video.search.yahoo.com/video
http://www.live.com/?scope=video
Quotation Marks To
Increase Selectivity Of Search Engines
When using some of the
conventional or specialized search engines, you can increase the selectivity,
by placing phrases in quotation marks.
For example, if you type into the search engine B. F. Skinner,
the search engine will look for websites that contain the above in any
order. Thus, if there is a website that
contains the names Skinner, B. and F, in any order it will probably be
selected by the search engine. To avoid
this, with Google and many other search engines, including most of the academic
search engines, simply place the words in quotation marks, as such “B. F.
Skinner”
Thus,
putting your search phrase in quotation marks will increase the selectivity, of
most search engines, and reduce the number of unwanted search results. However, sometimes quotation marks reduces
the selectivity, to the point where you do not obtain the information you
need. A strategy, that is occasionally
quite useful, is to start your search with quotation marks, examine the
results, and then repeat the search without quotation marks, to see if you get
better results.
Keep in
mind that portions of your search phrase can be placed in quotation marks, for
example: the application of behaviorism “B. F. Skinner”
Google,
and Google Scholar, and possibly some other search engines, have an advanced
search feature that allow the user to eliminate websites with certain words or
phrases. I found this useful, when I
want to avoid websites that are selling products and services. I simply exclude the words: credit card. This usually eliminates all websites that are
trying to sell their products.
To
learn more about advanced search features in Google and Google scholar, click
on the following hyperlinks.
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en
Words on website: Advanced Search
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE http://scholar.google.com/advanced_scholar_search Words on website: Advanced Scholar
Search
Girafa Toolbar, Free Software With A Number of Search Engines
If you are interested in a
large number of the conventional search engines in a single software package,
or toolbar try Girafa. This is free software, and is available for
download. Girafa
has a menu with a number of search engines, including Google, Yahoo, and
AOL. It also has a number of other
useful features.
To
obtain Girafa, left click on the web link at the end
of this paragraph. This will take you to
the Girafa website. Then press the download button at the
bottom of the Girafa website, and follow any
instructions that appear on the screen.
(However, before you download Girafa , or anything else, read
The Small Risks of Downloading Software , which is two
headings, below this one.)
Girafa Toolbar http://www.girafa.com/awards.acr
The Advanced Searchbar With
Many Search Engines
Another device that provides a
large number of search engines in one package, is the Advanced
Searchbar.
If one search engine does not yield adequate results in a specific
search, you can easily switch to another search engine, with the advanced searchbar. The Advanced
Searchbar also contains Google and Google
Scholar.
To
obtain the Advanced Searchbar
click on the web address at the end of this paragraph. When you get to the Website, click on the
button that says: Download Advanced Searchbar, then follow any instructions that appear
on the screen.
Advanced
Searchbar http://www.advancedsearchbar.com/
The Small Risks of Downloading
Software
There is a small risk when
downloading any type of software, especially if it is free. This minor risk is generally
quite minimal. However, if you
do not know how to uninstall software, and correct basic computer problems,
the risk is quite serious, unless you have the assistance of a skilled
computer user, who knows how to correct basic software problems.
Often,
the manufactures of free software make money by advertising. This by itself is not a bad idea,
because you obtain rather expensive software for free. The problem is some companies install
additional software, as you are installing their free product. The additional software can include pop-up
ads, and spyware that tracks your computer while you are connected to the
Internet. This can greatly slow down
your computer, and sometimes make it in operable, even when you are not using
it for the Internet.
Spyware is a very common problem, even if you do not download
anything. Most computers usually slow down
greatly as they age, and eventually stop functioning. This is very often the result of the spyware,
and if the spyware is removed, the computer is usually as good as new. To learn more about Spyware, click on the
following website links.
Search phrase
with Google: Spyware
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Spyware
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyware
Words on website: From Wikipedia
What Is The Difference Between
A Browser And A Search Engine?
A browser is software that is
installed directly on a personal computer, and is used for searching the
Internet. The browser consists of a
window or frame. In this window, you see
search results, and Web pages. The
browser has a place to type in Web addresses, (The address bar).
Search
engines work together with a browser.
However, a search engine is essentially software that is installed at a
website, and not on your computer.
It is
possible to use several browsers, on the same computer, in the same way that
you can use several search engines. If
you want to install additional browsers on your computer, you can click on the
icons at the end of this section, and download the software. It is free.
I used
many different search engines and browsers over the last couple of years. I found that using high-quality search
engines, including specialized search engines, could determine the utility and
value of your search results. The search
engines you use give you your perspective of the Internet. If you change your search engines, you might
obtain an entirely different perspective of the Internet. However, based on my experience, the browser
that is used is not quite as important.
Nevertheless, each browser has its own set of features, advantages, and
disadvantages.
I
usually use Microsoft's Internet Explorer as a browser. Generally, there are very few problems with
Internet Explorer, and when there is, Microsoft usually provides new software
downloads to correct the problem.
However, one of the disadvantages of Internet Explorer is its
popularity. Hackers often try to create
viruses and other malicious programs that interact with Internet Explorer. This can present a security problem. The less popular search engines are of less
interest to hackers, simply because less people use them.
The
website links below, provide downloads for six browsers, including Internet
Explorer.
A List Of Six Browsers, That Can Be
Downloaded For Free From The Internet
http://www.opera.com/download/
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/ie/getitnow.mspx
Search Strategies To Use
When You Have An Extremely Challenging Problem, Goal, Study, Or Experiment
When You Are Faced With The Most
Difficult Challenges Try The Following Techniques
The
search strategies discussed above are sometimes not adequate for certain types
of problems or goals. When this is the
case, apply the strategies discussed below.
These strategies can be used with all of the techniques previously
discussed.
Make A
List Of Relevant Questions And Use Them For Search Terms
One of
the simplest techniques for difficult problems is to make a list of
questions that relate to your problem or goal. Once you have the list of questions, use them
as search phrases. In some cases, it
might be more effective to use only parts of the question as a search
phrase. All of this, of course is a
trial and error process.
A very
simple example with this technique is if you have to write a term paper in
psychology, and you do not know how to do so, create the following
questions. How to
write a term paper in psychology?
How to write a research paper in psychology? Then use these questions as search
phrases. If you are not successful
repeat the search with modified questions, such as: How
to write research papers? How to write term papers?
For
more complex problems or goals more involve questions, may be required. A larger number of questions might also be
needed. For example, if your problem is
to write a grant proposal for formal psychological research, the list of
questions can include: What organizations provide
grant proposals for psychological research?
What are the qualifications required to get a grant proposal? What types of research are likely to get funded? How to write a grant proposal? What are the best ways to structure a grant
proposal, for psychological research. What agencies OR organizations are most
likely to fund psychological research.
What types of psychological research are most likely to be funded.
A still
more complex problem might require dozens of questions, which may require
careful evaluation and study to devise them.
A good example is a study, thesis or book on poverty. This can involve the following
questions. What are all the possible
contributing causes to poverty? How
significant is racial discrimination as a cause of poverty? What types of prejudicial attitudes
contribute to poverty? To what extent
does lack of education contribute to poverty?
Do poor child rearing practices contribute to poverty? Are adequate schools a contributing factor to
poverty? Can schools be changed to
reduce poverty?
The
above example could involve many more questions, but the general principles
should be clear at this point.
Make A List Of All
The Organizations, Individuals, And Experts That Can Provide Assistance, And
Conduct Related Internet Searches For Contact Information
Ask yourself, and/or
acquaintances, what organizations, individuals, and experts might be able to
provide assistance for the situation you are dealing with. Then, make a list of all the
possibilities. Try to arrange your list
with the more important or potentially more useful, items on the top of the
list, and the less important toward the bottom.
After this, carry out Internet searches with the items starting from the
top of your list. In some cases, this
can involve a search for telephone numbers, especially when the objective is to
contact organizations or experts for assistance.
Break Your Problem Or Goal
Into A Series Of Factors, And Use The Factors As Search Phrases
Almost every problem, goal, or
entity can be broken up into a series of factors. Some of the factors might be causing a
problem, or might be possible contributing factors to a difficulty. Factors can also be obstacles that make a
goal difficult or impossible. Factors
can also relate to the structure and/or function of an entity, or its
malfunction.
With this technique, you make a list of all the relevant factors
that relate to the problem or goal you are working on. Then use the factors as search phrases, to
obtain more information. For example, if
your goal is to build a computer, some of the factors are:
a hard drive, processor, random access memory, motherboard, video card,
internal CD/DVD, power supply, sound card, computer case, retail outlets that
sell computer hardware, instructions on how to build your own computer. All of the above would be search phrases if
your goal is to build your own computer.
Make A List
Of Search Terms By Brainstorming
A simpler, but less organized
technique, then the above methods is brainstorming. This
involves making a list of just about any search phrase that comes to your mind, that relates to your objective. The search phrase can be any word or phrase,
including questions, factors, organizations, technicians, and professionals
that may be helpful. This can result in
a very long list of search phrases. In
most cases, the optimum strategy is to select the search phrases that appear to
be the best.
PART THREE:
USEFUL RESOURCES
Millions Of Web Pages
Website Links And The
Goal Is To Find What You Want On The Internet
A list of website links, for search
pages, search engines, directories, and psychological journals, are presented
in this section. All of these website
links connect directly and indirectly to many millions
of web pages.
Of
course, the goal is to find the few websites that you need, at the point in
time when you need specific types of information. All of this involves trial and error, and
patients. As you gain experience with
the techniques presented on this website, and knowledge with a subject, the
level of trial and error needed to find what you want will be reduced.
Search Pages Useful For The
Psychological Sciences
The following list of websites consists of search pages, with many
links to other websites. If you do
not find what you want on any of these websites, you can change the search
phrase, which will appear in a dialog box, after you click on any of the
following Web links. After
changing the search phrase press enter on the keyboard, and you will obtain
additional search pages.
You should keep in mind that
the following represents a simple technique that you can use to store your own
search pages, in Microsoft Word, and many other varieties of electronic
documents.
Search pages that are saved
as indicated above, periodically change, even if you are using the same web
address, because additional entries are periodically added by the search engine
provider.
Search
phrase with Google: Basic Search engines for psychology students http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Basic+Search+engines+for+psychology+students&btnG=Google+Search
Search
phrase with ASK: "Basic
psychology" http://www.ask.com/web?qsrc=2417&o=10182&l=dir&q=%22Basic+psychology%22
Search
phrase with AltaVista: Basic Search engines for psychology students
http://www.altavista.com/web/res_text?q=Basic+Search+engines+for+psychology+students+
Search
phrase with Metacrawler: Basic Search engines for
psychology students
Search
phrase with Netscape: "Basic psychology" students http://search.netscape.com/search/search?invocationType=topsearchbox.search&query=%22Basic+psychology%22+students
Search
phrase with Google: “Search engines for psychotherapists” http://www.google.com/search?q=“Search+engines+for+psychotherapists”
Search
phrase with search.yahoo: psychology journals http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0geu8v8u5dIw9cAe_Sl87UF?p=psychology+journals&ei=UTF-8&iscqry=&fr=sfp
Search
phrase with Google: "Self-help psychology" http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22Self-help+psychology%22&btnG=Google+Search
Search
phrase with search.yahoo: "Self-help psychology" http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0geu.YyrphIx5oAFbql87UF?p=%22Self-help+psychology%22&ei=UTF-8&iscqry=&fr=sfp
Search
phrase with MSN: "Self-help psychology" http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=%22Self-help+psychology%22&FORM=MSNH
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE Search phrase with Google: psychology
journals http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=psychology+journals
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL
RESOURCE Search
phrase with MSN psychology journals http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=psychology+journals&form=QBRE
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE Search
phrase with Google: “social
psychology” journals http://www.google.com/search?q=“social+psychology”+journals
Search phrase with yahoo search: “social
psychology” journals
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL
RESOURCE Search phrase with MSN: “social psychology” journals http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=%22social+psychology%22+journals&go=&form=QBRE
Specialized Search Engines And
Directories For The Psychological Sciences
When you use this list look at
the words that are under the website link, which will help you determine if the
website is useful for your objectives.
The websites that follow are essentially directories or search engines
focused on the psychological sciences.
http://www.psychologyinfo.com/ Words on website: Welcome to Psychology Information Online!
http://www.tulsa.oklahoma.net/~jnichols/Searching.html
Words on website: Hundreds of web sites exist that are
wholly, or in part, devoted to topics that are, or might be of interest
to psychologists or psychology students.
http://www.searchengineguide.com/pages/Social_Science/Psychology/index.html
Words on website: Psychology Search Engines
http://www.educationindex.com/psych/ Words on website: Psychology Online
Resources at Education Index
http://psychology.truman.edu/links/index.asp
Words on website: Psychology - Related Links
http://www.apa.org/ Words on website: American
Psychological Association
Words
on website: PsycCrawler® is a product of
the American Psychological Association
http://psychcentral.com/ Words on website: Welcome to the Internet's largest and oldest
independent mental health social network created and run by mental health
professionals to guarantee reliable, trusted information and support
communities to you, for over 16 years.
http://www.human-nature.com/rmyoung/papers/pap138.html
Words
on website: Guide to the Internet for Psychotherapists and Psychoanalysts
http://www.lib.umt.edu/research/guide/psy_psychology.htm#psych
Words on website: The
http://neuro.psyc.memphis.edu/links.htm
Words on website: A summary of some of
the more direct links to psychology The list below
will take you to the desired section in this reference to links section.
http://www.buraphalinux.org/~twatchai/OLDWEB/hotel/psychstr.html
Words on website: Psychology -- Research Strategy Summary -- A GGU University Library Guide
http://psych.hanover.edu/Krantz/journal.html#psychjournal Words on website: Psychology Related
Periodicals
http://www.apa.org/journals/ Words on website: APA Journals
http://www.rollyo.com/westlibrary/abnormal_psychology/
Words
on website: Abnormal Psychology Search
http://psychology.about.com/od/fulltextjournals/a/psychjournals.htm?iam=momma_100_SKD&terms=%22psychology+journals Words on website: Full-Text Psychology
Journals
http://psychology.about.com/od/fulltextjournals/a/psychjournals.htm
Words on website: Free Full-Text Psychology Journal Articles
Search
phrase with metasearch: psychology journal
http://mamma.com/Mamma?utfout=1&qtype=&query=psychology+journal
http://www.mywire.com/pubs/PsychologyToday/ Words on website: Psychology Today
magazine explores motivations for human behavior, from stress to relationships
and matters of the heart. This monthly magazine
combines an entertaining tone with clinical insight and advice.
http://dir.yahoo.com/Social_Science/Psychology/Journals/
Words on website: YAHOO! DIRECTORY
http://www.tnstate.edu/library/journal/onjnpsy.htm
Words on website: Online Journals (Psychology)
http://www.medbioworld.com/ Words on website: Psychiatry Journals Search
Psychiatry in the library from HighBeam Research
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE http://www.socialpsychology.org/ Words on website: Social Psychology
Network
http://www.apastyle.org/ Words on website: When
editors or teachers ask you to write in "APA style," they do not mean
writing style. They are referring to the editorial
style that many of the social and behavioral sciences have adopted to present
written material in the field.
http://www.dialogical.net/psychology/journals.html
Words on website: Psychology WWW Virtual Library
http://psychology.about.com/ Words on website: Conducting a Psychology Study
http://psychology.about.com/od/researchmethods/a/research_steps.htm
Words on website: Words on
website: Steps in Psychology Research
Search phrase with Google: Journals for
Hypnosis http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Journals+for+Hypnosis&btnG=Google+Search
http://www.psychology.org/ Words on website: Encyclopedia of Psychology
Internet
Resources for Psychotherapists World Wide Web Directories and Search Engines http://www.tpi-berkeley.org/08resrces/08search.htm
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE http://www.dialogical.net/psychology/index.html Words on website: Psychology
World Wide Web Virtual Library
Videos On the
Internet
Introduction To Videos
On The Internet
There are many videos on the
Internet, which includes filmed psychological experiments, and lectures in
psychology. There are also videos that
demonstrate various psychological techniques, such as hypnosis, and relaxation
methods. These videos are very useful
because text cannot demonstrate the true dynamics of an experiment, or a
psychological technique.
Video Search Engines And
Directories
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/top_10_video_search_engines.php Words on website: Top 10 Video Search Engines
http://video.search.yahoo.com/video
http://www.live.com/?scope=video
Video Search Pages, For The
Psychological Sciences
The following list of websites consists of search pages, with links to
videos on the Internet. If you do not
find what you want on any of these websites, you can change the search phrase,
which will appear in a dialog box, after you click on any of the following Web
links. After changing the search phrase
press enter on the keyboard, and you will obtain additional search pages with
videos.
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE Search
phrase with Google video: Psychology http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=Social+psychology&hl=en&emb=0#q=Psychology&hl=en&emb=0
Search
phrase with fooooo Psychology http://en.fooooo.com/search.php?ranking=0&q=Psychology
Search
phrase with Psychology http://www.vidsea.com/?p=Psychology
THIS IS A VERY USEFUL RESOURCE Search
phrase with Google video:Social
psychology http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=Social+psychology&hl=en&emb=0#q=Social%20psychology&hl=en&emb=0
Search
phrase with VideoSearch http://www.vidsea.com/?p=Social+psychology
Search
phrase with fooooo: Social psychology http://en.fooooo.com/search.php?q=Social+psychology&yo=0
Search
phrase with Google video: Biofeedback
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=Social+psychology&hl=en&emb=0#q=Biofeedback&hl=en&emb=0
Search phrase with Google video: Psychology experiments http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=Psychology+experiments&hl=en&emb=0#
Search
phrase with Google video: Hypnosis http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=Psychology+experiments&hl=en&emb=0#q=Hypnosis&hl=en&emb=0
Search
phrase with Google video: Relaxation http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=Relaxation&hl=en&emb=0#
Search
phrase with Google video: “Psychology lecture” http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%E2%80%9CPsychology+lecture%E2%80%9D&hl=en&emb=0#