The Joy of Search

1. Online Research: A Foundational Skill for the Information Age

People fluent in search not only save time but are also far more likely to find higher-quality, more credible, more useful content.

The Fourth "R". In today's world, research is as essential as reading, writing, and arithmetic. The ability to effectively navigate and evaluate online information is a crucial skill for students, professionals, and citizens alike. It empowers individuals to ask and answer questions more accurately, efficiently, and comprehensively.

Lifelong Learning. Learning has evolved into a continuous, lifelong pursuit. Those who can learn best and know the most gain a significant advantage. Similarly, being a skilled online researcher provides a real edge in education, work, and life, enabling individuals to access higher-quality, credible, and useful content.

Beyond Basic Skills. While most people use search engines, few understand how to leverage their full potential. Learning to be a better online researcher involves understanding the web, how search engines work, and how to interpret results effectively. This goes beyond simply typing keywords into a search box.

2. Clues and Context: The Detective's Approach to Online Search

Sometimes clues can be misleading (such as the Egyptian flag in the image). It’s important to NOT get bogged down in dead ends but instead be willing to change your strategy on the fly.

Start with What You Have. Cracking a "where-in-the-world" challenge often begins with careful observation of the image itself. Logos, flags, architectural styles, and other visual elements can provide valuable clues. The key is to identify potentially useful details and use them as starting points for your search.

Multiple Approaches. Cityscapes are full of clues, and there are often multiple ways to find the location of a photo. Don't be afraid to try different search strategies and tools. If one approach doesn't work, switch gears and try something else.

Hidden Details. Reflections and other subtle details can hold the key to unlocking a mystery. Image editing tools can be used to magnify details, transform images, and enhance contrast, revealing hidden clues that might otherwise be missed.

3. Specialized Terms and Expert Sites: Mining Deep Knowledge

Specialized terms, when you learn them, are great!

Short and Obvious Searches. Surprisingly, simple queries can often yield excellent results. However, these queries are most effective when you have a specific target in mind. Obvious searches work best when you're looking for something specific.

Expert Sites. Checking known expert sites (e.g., USGS.gov) is a great strategy for getting in-depth articles. Scholarly articles are best when they come from a known source that does a lot of work in this area. The site: operator is invaluable for limiting search results to a specific domain.

Specialized Language. When you encounter specialized terms or phrases, make note of them and use them in your subsequent searches. This can lead to more precise and relevant results. However, be sure you understand the meaning of these terms to avoid wasting time on irrelevant searches.

4. Beyond the Obvious: Cultivating Curiosity and Asking "Why?"

Look up stuff that’s interesting, unknown, or unclear.

Embrace Curiosity. The real lesson is to look up stuff that's interesting, unknown, or unclear. Learn to recognize the little annoyances that you can reframe as a small research question. The key is to transform everyday observations and questions into opportunities for exploration and discovery.

Context Terms. Adding a context term (like diagram) to your search can tailor the results toward useful information sources. Context terms describe the kinds of results that you might want to see, such as "album," "glossary," or "overview."

Override Spelling Correction. Putting a single word in double quotes makes Google search for that word without any spell corrections or substitutions. This is useful when you're looking for an intentionally misspelled word or a place-name with a spelling that's close to a regular word.

5. Data Literacy: Questioning Sources and Validating Information

When looking at data, be SURE you understand WHEN it was collected and WHAT it’s measuring.

Data Context. When looking at data, be sure you understand when it was collected and what it's measuring. Different sources draw on slightly different resources from different times, which can significantly impact your results. Remember also that if two sites have exactly the same data, they're probably both using data from the same source.

Influencing Factors. Consider other factors that might influence your data. Death rates, for example, vary a lot by age. Be sure you understand all the aspects of the data that are important to you.

Boilerplate Language. When you need the "next document in the series," remember that those documents often use boilerplate language, which you can find with a fill-in-the-blank query like ["In 2015, a total of * resident deaths"]. This is an amazingly handy trick to remember when you're looking for documents that have patterns of text that you know.

6. Language as a Key: Unlocking Historical and Cultural Insights

When you’re looking up an article on a topic that is highly culturally specific, be sure to look in that language as well.

Multilingual Wikipedia. Wikipedia comes in multiple languages. When you're looking up an article on a topic that is highly culturally specific, be sure to look in that language as well. Famous people, places, and things tend to have longer and more detailed descriptions in the language that they're associated with.

Wikipedia Stars. Pay attention to Wikipedia stars. The stars mark articles that are especially well written and complete, and have good references. If you're looking at an article that seems a bit sketchy or lightweight, look for the same article in another language; if it's got a star, there's a good chance that reading the starred article (in translation) will be more useful than the inadequate article you're reading now.

Tool for Comparison. Search for a tool when you find yourself doing something repeatedly. This is good advice in general; when you're doing something multiple times, this is a candidate for a little computational help. In our case, there are online tools that can help compare multiple Wikipedia pages, making your learning process a bit more streamlined.

7. Maps and Archives: Visualizing and Verifying Geographic Information

Look up stuff that’s interesting, unknown, or unclear.

Look Up Stuff. The real lesson is to look up stuff that's interesting, unknown, or unclear. Learn to recognize the terms and concepts that you might not already know. In searching and reading web pages to answer this question, I had to constantly look up words that were "terms of art."

Real Answers. You need to follow the search deeply enough to get a "real" answer. Many researchers who work on this question found that the East Coast clearly accumulated sediment, but couldn't say why.

Starting Hard. Starting this search was hard; don't get discouraged at the start. It was difficult getting started with searches that worked. In this case, unless you're a practicing geologist, terms like "continental shelf" and "shoreline sedimentary systems" don't just come trippingly off the tongue. Don't worry about the terminology when beginning a research quest; eventually you'll learn the relevant language.

8. The Power of Serendipity: Embracing Unexpected Discoveries

You can learn a lot by reading snippets.

Read Snippets. You can learn a lot by reading snippets. But as I've written before, be careful not to overread the snippets. You can get leads, but follow them up so you understand what's really going on. In this case, we got our first idea that this could be Moorish in origin and called a "Mudejar star."

Reading Results. Reading results gives you clues. It was by reading about Mudejar stars that we first found the hint that San Rafael Arcángel might have a star window as well. Of course, that led us to the historical quandary about whether or not it originally had such a window. Nevertheless, we found it.

Google Street View. Look around in Google Street View when you can't find the thing that everyone says is there. In this case, the Mudejar star window wasn't obvious—until you "walked" pegman down the street and looked back. THEN it was clear where the star was.

9. Adaptability and Persistence: Essential Traits of Great Searchers

When you have a specific name for something, use it.

Specific Names. When you have a specific name for something, use it. In this case, we found the scientific, binomial, Latin name to uniquely identify our mystery flower.

Specialized Databases. Likewise, when you've found a specialized database (such as Calflora) that's dedicated to a single topic (such as the flowers of California), use it; it probably has great high-quality data.

Names Change. Names change—even within the scientific community. From the start we learned that there are two names for this family of flowers. The name Asteraceae comes from the genus Aster, from the Greek word meaning star, referring to the starlike shape of the flowers. Meanwhile, Compositae is an older name that refers to the fact that flowers in this family are composites, like a daisy, dandelion, or sunflower.

10. The Future-Proof Researcher: Skills for a Changing Information Landscape

My goal is to show you the marvelous depth of knowledge at your fingertips, and my hope is to share with you the great joy of finding out.

Constant Change. The online world is in constant flux, with new tools, resources, and information emerging all the time. To remain effective, researchers must embrace adaptability and a willingness to learn continuously.

Core Skills Endure. While specific tools and technologies may evolve, the core research skills of critical thinking, source evaluation, question formulation, and information synthesis will remain essential.

Beyond Algorithms. Despite advancements in AI and search algorithms, human judgment and expertise will continue to be crucial for interpreting results, identifying biases, and drawing meaningful conclusions.

Last updated: April 19, 2025