Difference between revisions of "Research using the web"
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| − | For more Google search tips, see | + | For more Google search tips, see [http://www.google.com/support/bin/static.py?page=searchguides.html&ctx=basics&hl=en Google's Basic search help] |
| − | http://www.google.com/support/bin/static.py?page=searchguides.html&ctx=basics&hl=en | ||
==Resources and useful links== | ==Resources and useful links== | ||
Revision as of 06:05, 8 March 2013
Contents
- 1 Web search tips
- 2 Resources and useful links
- 2.1 Press and media databases
- 2.2 Archives
- 2.3 Resources on lobbying/corporate power
- 2.4 Freedom of Information
- 2.5 Government offices, official sources
- 2.6 Departmental pages
- 2.7 Governmental publications/records
- 2.8 Web research
- 2.9 Powerbase guides and resources for research
- 2.10 How to find the owners of domain names
- 2.11 Corporate information
- 3 Notes
Web search tips
In some cases, researching affiliations between people, groups and organizations is as simple as typing the names involved into the Google search box.
You can narrow down your search by enclosing names containing more than one word in inverted commas. For example, if you are researching links between Joe Bloggs and the company Toxic & Lethal Co., you'll find that typing
- "joe bloggs" "toxic & lethal"
provides more useful hits than typing
- joe bloggs toxic & lethal
because the latter will throw up results relating to all Joes, all Bloggses, and all mentions of the words "toxic" and "lethal". At the same time, it's often useful to omit words like "Co." from your search because the way this is written in your sources may change significantly. So some sources will favour Toxic & Lethal Company, while others will favour Toxic & Lethal Co., while others will omit the "Co." and "Company" part of the name altogether.
If one of the words, names or terms you are searching has an alternative meaning that you want to exclude from your search, you can do this by typing that meaning into the search box using a "-" sign. For example, you're searching for a politician called James Smith, but he has the same name as the lead singer in the rock band Filth. You can get rid of a huge amount of irrelevant sites if you use the minus sign, thus
- "james smith" -filth -music -rock
For more Google search tips, see Google's Basic search help
Resources and useful links
Press and media databases
(requires Athens login)
- BugMeNot - Lets you skip the registration process for many online news sites – although not those requesting paid subscriptions.
- NewsMap - Useful little site that tracks graphically what is making the headlines at any given time.
- Mailinator - Allows you to generate a free one-time only, incoming-only email address
Archives
Glasgow University http://www.archives.gla.ac.uk/about/default.html
HBoS http://www.hbosplc.com/abouthbos/history/group_archives.asp
RBS http://www.rbs.com/about02.asp?id=ABOUT_US/OUR_HERITAGE/OUR_ARCHIVES
National Archives of Scotland http://www.nas.gov.uk/about/default.asp
Scottish Executive Consultations [1]
Scottish Executive Publications http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/Recent
Glasgow City Council Archives http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/Residents/Libraries/Collections/Localhistory/CityCouncilArchives/
Resources on lobbying/corporate power
- Spinwatch
- Sourcewatch
- Corporate Watch UK
- Corporate Watch US
- Wikipedia
- Open Secrets, guide to money in (US) politics
- LobbyingInfo.org (part of Public Citizen)
- Clean Up Washington (part of Public Citizen)
- White House for Sale (data on campaign finance in past US Presidential election)
Freedom of Information
- Statewatch – FOI in Europe
- Your right to know – Heather Brooke’s FOIA advice site.
- Campaign for Freedom of Information
- Open Secrets – A blog about freedom of information by Martin Rosenbaum
Government offices, official sources
Information Commissioner’s Office (England and Wales) http://www.ico.gov.uk/
Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/
Office of Public Sector Information http://www.opsi.gov.uk/
Departmental pages
Scottish Executive FoI page: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/FOI
Ministry of Defence http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FreedomOfInformation/
Foreign Office http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1032370383930
Cabinet Office/Downing Street Publication Scheme http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/publicationscheme/
FoI Page: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/foi/foi.asp
Governmental publications/records
- House of Commons Publications
- House of commons Archives
- Scottish Parliament Official Report
- National Assembly for Wales Record of Proceedings
- National Statistics (formerly ONS)
- Official Journal of the European Union
- European Commission Representations - Office in Scotland
- Europe in the UK: Information Network
- European Union Documents
Web research
Web archive/Way back machine http://www.archive.org/index.php This search facility is useful if you have a dead weblink to an article or website, as it keeps an archive of old web addresses with their associated web pages or articles.
The New York Times Newsroom Navigator. This is the home page of all journalists on the NY Times http://tech.nytimes.com/top/news/technology/cybertimesnavigator/index.html/
- UK Telephone Code Locator - Discover which area a dialling code is in
Reverse List of US telephone area codes: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/bsy/www/area.html
