“Research paper” is a phrase that can send chills down any student’s spine. It can involve so much more stress than a pop quiz and more disappointment than a cancelled school trip.
Google has come to the rescue once more, by helping students, academics, and anyone else in need of rigorous, expert-level research tools to complete their research quickly and accurately.
Research is now primarily digital. We don’t go to a library to reference books and hard copy journals like we did ten years ago. As technologies advance we are in fact expected to have at our disposal tech-driven research that could make library visits entirely redundant.
Testimony to this growing trend of using the Internet, and Google in particular, for school research needs is the response by teachers. When teachers were surveyed and asked what they thought the most likely tool their students use for research is, the respondents said that at least 94% of US students use Google.
According to the same Pew Internet survey, teachers believe that 75% of their students are very likely to use Wikipedia and other online encyclopedias when doing their research. YouTube and social media sites come third, with a 52% likelihood.
While students still consult study guides like Cliff Notes, Sparknotes, and major news organizations and agencies, Google is the go-to source thanks to its many and varied research tools.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar is a service that gives access to journal articles, theses, studies, books, and content abstracts. It is widely used by undergraduate and graduate students due to its academic focus.
Google Scholar indexes a large percentage of the most prestigious peer-reviewed journals both in digital and physical-scanned form.
Google Books
This is the library of libraries. Users can peruse and read abstracts or entire books for free. Many books are even available through Google Play as well, through the Android app store.
As of April 2013, Google Books features more than 30 million scanned books, all at the disposition of aspiring researchers and students.
Google Earth
Science, math, and astronomy research often ends up on Google Earth and Google Maps, where students find accurate, up to date information and facts about entire countries and our wider solar system.
Research tools alone, however, are not enough for effective online research. Apart from a powerful research tool you also need good typing skills. By typing quickly and accurately you ensure your research is completed on time. Combining the research tools offered by Google and greatkeyboarding skills ensures you make the most out of the Internet in how well-structured and in-depth your research papers are – and how quickly you get them done.
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