Geology - Studying On-line
Learning Should be Fun
- Don’t feel pressured
- Try not to leave things until the last minute
- Try to find a human angle
- Follow your interests
- If it seems too hard, try a different source
- If it’s still too hard, try an easier topic
- Take a break
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help
- Read the How-to Articles First [links to these are in our Useful Links document, under Study Techniques]
Start from Reliable Links
- Our Useful Links document
- Links from textbooks, magazine articles (often in-line or grouped together at the end)
- Links on BGS, Geological Society websites
- Links in Wikipedia articles
- Most big sites have their own search page (try the sidebars, top or bottom of their home page)
- Links in other documents (but be sensible)
Don’t Believe Everything You Read
- Check the provenance of the information (journalism or science? trusted source? qualified author?)
- Check the original articles & citations (reputable journal? references to previous scientific publications? reasoned arguments, not polemic?
Take Notes As You Go
- Keep an editor (eg Notepad) window open for jottings and doodles
- Make friends with your browser’s bookmark system
- Always open links in a new browser window/tab
- Don’t close windows/tabs unless they’re duds
- Use your browser’s history if necessary
Sharpen Your Searching Skills
- Remember that the top result is often paid for
- Don’t “feel lucky” on Google
- Best results aren’t always near the top
- Consider using Google Scholar
- Always check the links before following them
Get the Best from Wikipedia
- Remember, anyone can edit [part of] an article
- Take note of “needs additional citations”
- Beware of “stubs”
- Always check the References (footnotes)
- Use the See Also links
- Use the External References links
- Use the tools provided in the sidebar
- Click on images for larger version[s]
- Use Wikimedia Commons for copyright-free images
Find the needle in a huge haystack
- Google Search Refinement
- Plus (+) to require a word
- Minus (-) to exclude a word
- Quotes (“….”) for exact matches only
- Mix and match the above in any combination.
- Also use the Images, Videos, News, Maps links near the top
E.g. to find Trident Housing Group despite the nuclear missile connotations, try searching for:-
| Search term | #Effect | |
| trident | no filtering | |
| trident -missile | exclude anything mentioning 'missile' | |
| +trident -missile -nuclear +housing | require things that mention both'housing' and 'trident' but exclude anything mentioning 'missile' or 'nuclear | |
| "trident housing group" | literal match, excluding everything that doesn't explicitly mention 'trident housing group' | |
| +"housing group"+trident -missile -nuclear | require anything with 'trident' and 'housing group' but exclude anything also mentioning 'missile' or 'nuclear' |