This "quick sheet" provides other ways of obtaining research than always using the Google Search Box.

1.  What does “Beyond the Google Box” mean?
 Beyond the Google Box means there are more ways to obtain research data than just using
Google all the time. Try the different technologies below.
 Google Alerts
 http://www.google.com/alerts
 Monitoring a developing news story
 Keeping current on a competitor or industry
 Getting the latest on a celebrity or event
 Keeping tabs on your favorite sports teams
 Collecting research data
 RSS Feeds
 A web feed is a file that contains frequently updated information, such as news headlines,
blog posts, and in the case of podcasts audio and video, that is specially formatted in a
way that allows it to be subscribed to using a variety of programs called feed readers or
aggregators.
 RSS solves a problem for people who regularly use the web. It allows you to easily stay
informed by retrieving the latest content from the sites you are interested in. You save
time by not needing to visit each site individually. You ensure your privacy, by not needing
to join each site's email newsletter.
 Feed Reader or News Aggregator software allow you to grab the RSS feeds from various
sites and display them for you to read and use.
 Google Reader: http://bit.ly/rIn8z7
 Social Bookmarking
 Similar to web browser bookmarks, social bookmarking stores individual pages online and
allows you to 'tag' them. For people who like to frequently bookmark web pages, this can
provide an easier way to organize the bookmarks.
 Example: http://www.diigo.com/
 YouTube.com/EDU
 http://www.youtube.com/education
 YouTube.com/EDU are lectures from top ranked universities around the globe
 Blogs ©Beyond the Google Box, Michelle Post, Ph.D.
 A blog is a type of website that is usually arranged in chronological order from the most
recent „post‟ (or entry) at the top of the main page to the older entries towards the
bottom.
 A blog is a Web site that functions as a journal, or a diary, or a place to post your thoughts
and opinions pertaining to a particular subject matter.
 Example listing of blogs for education: http://oedb.org/library/features/top-100-
education-blogs
 To search for specific blogs use Google‟s Blog Search: http://www.google.com/blogsearch
 Additional Areas for Researching
 Wikis: Best list of Wikis on the Internet - http://wiki.wetpaint.com/page/Wiki+Directory
 Podcasts: Search Google with the keywords “podcast directory”
 Discussion Groups: Share ideas with other scholars using Google Groups -
https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!overview or MIT‟s Open Study -
http://openstudy.com/