Using the Internet for Research

The results of AACE's Technology in Counseling Assessment Survey arrived during the summer of 1997 and were tabulated by technology committee members. The survey results provide an interesting picture of current technology usage within our organization. In upcoming issues of Newsnotes, committee members and survey participants will provide short articles on various technology uses and issues identified by the survey. In this first article, we address the emerging use of the Internet in counseling assessment and research by focusing on a possible framework for approaching professional information gathering via the World Wide Web.

As the Internet has made its excited entrance into mainstream America over the past several years, various "search engines" have been developed to ease information gathering via the Web. These search engines are basically on-line software packages that search their own databases at your command. Search engines are beginning to take on definite personalities according to the type of information finding its way into their repositories. Five of the most popular search engines at this time are Yahoo, Lycos, Magellan, lnfoseek, and Excite. There are many others.

You can begin to discern a search engine's "personality" by its advertising and the layout of its pages. Yahoo is a search engine which seems to be catering mostly to entertainment and mass media information. Lycos and Magellan focus more on professional and technical information, what we might call reference material. lnfoseek and Excite seem to include not only reference material like Magellan and Lycos, but also general information on given topics. This is not to say that any of these search engines are more credible than others, only that these are the main types of information which individuals and organizations are submitting for inclusion in these databases at this time. Search engines generate revenue from their advertising, like many other segments of the media.

Researching a specific subject on the Internet without a definite framework or procedure can be a time drain, drawing hours away from your career and interactions with family and friends. A skill that is of increasing importance to researchers and practitioners is the ability to use the technology of the Internet to find accurate, reliable information through the World Wide Web. As a professional, you can become proficient in finding Websites and assessing the data and information within them. To improve your searching skills, choose several Web search engines and become thoroughly familiar with them. Two good places to start are: http://www.albany.net/allinone/all1user.html, and http://www.msn.com/search/search.asp.

Experiment with the search links found at these sites, and choose ones that seem to work well with the topics you generally research. Settle on one or two search engines, read their "Help' pages (they're invaluable) and practice. You'll soon become an expert on your search engine, and you'll save a considerable amount of time.

After you've found information, how do you determine its value for your purposes? You may assess the worth of Internet information from several perspectives. What kind of site are you viewing and referencing? The site's Web address can give you a credibility clue. Try cutting off the address (URL) after the first slash (/). This will show you the main page of the site that published that document and should reveal something about the nature of the site. If the address ends with ".com," it is a commercial site and the host may be trying to sell a particular product or point of view. An ".org" site is from a professional organization which may or may not have an agenda or philosophy similar to yours. An ".edu" site is from an educational institution (a college, for example). Sites with ".gov" and ".mil" addresses are U.S. government and military sites respectively. In general, the ".edu" and ".gov" sites are considered more reliable. If an address contains a tilde (-), this means it is a personal site, one maintained by an individual. These sites might not be as trustworthy and may not be regularly updated.

Finally, does the information on the site appear credible from your professional knowledge? Does it cite well known leaders in your field? Does the material have an "as of' date? Is an author cited on the page to answer user queries? Counseling research via the Internet is a prime example of an area where our emphasis and skills in assessment are vital. In the end, just as general Internet skills come with focused practice, the assessment of Internet information will improve with time and methodical procedures. Become an Internet research expert.

Last update: May 3, 2001
Copyright 2001, Association for Assessment in Counseling, All Rights Reserved
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