Online resources are quickly becoming very valuable for psychology students, faculty, and professionals. When you first start to explore the world of the Internet, it can seem overwhelming. What are the practical uses of the Internet for psychology students?
-Educational resources. Most colleges and universities now have Internet hosts
and World Wide Web sites. Faculty often post course information and syllabi
online, and some courses are even offered entirely online. Some instructors
require students to do tutorials or other projects on the Internet, or to do
research using the Internet. In addition, you may be able to get general information
about your school, its policies, programs, graduation requirements, and faculty
on the Net.
-Research. The Internet is a repository for many journals, books, archives,
and other sources of scholarly information. In addition, subscribing to a mailing
list or posting to a newsgroup in an area of interest can yield new sources
of information that would be hard to get elsewhere. See the section on Doing
Psychology Research with the Internet for more information.
-Graduate school and career information. The Internet is a great resource for those planning a career in psychology. Most graduate schools have Web sites that list their programs, entrance requirements, faculty profiles, and other information of interest to prospective students. Once you get that degree, you can consult online listings of jobs available in many areas of psychology. See Careers in Psychology for more information.
-Self-help and support. The Internet is a great way to provide information
and support to people who might not otherwise have access to it. There are dozens
of newsgroups and mailing lists that offer support and advice for people dealing
with a variety of mental health-related issues, from Alzheimer’s caregivers
to people with eating disorders to psychology graduate students.
-Professional contacts and networking. E-mail is a good way to keep in touch with friends and professors, and to make contact with people who can give you information you need. Mailing lists and newsgroups on scholarly or professional topics can give you an idea of some of the people working in psychology and their work and concerns. You may even be able to start a discussion with a faraway person on a topic of mutual interest.
-Goods and services. As many people have discovered, the Web can serve as an electronic shopping mall. For students of psychology it can be a place to order books, software, or journals of interest, sign up for classes or conferences, or even get online therapy (although that is not recommended).
The Internet is a great source of information for psychology students doing
research. There is no one "right" way to do research with the Internet,
though it is important to stay focused; it's easy to lose hours of study time
surfing the Net. Remember that you probably won’t be able to do all your research
on the Net; you will probably still need to go to the library and do some research
the old-fashioned way.
PsycINFO is a very important psychology research tool maintained by the American
Psychological Association. It contains hundreds of thousands of entries on books
and journals related to psychology published since the 1960s. More than 4000
entries are added each month. Now PsycINFO is available to members (including
student members) of the APA on the Web. In addition, many schools make PsychINFO
available to students and faculty in their libraries. Each PsycINFO reference
includes a bibliographic citation and publishing information, a summary or abstract
of the content, and standard keyword indexing. You can search PsycINFO by specifically
referencing any of a number of fields, such as publication year, journal name,
keyword, author, or any string of text that appears anywhere in the record.
There are dozens of libraries whose contents are searchable online. If your school’s library is among them, you can look up and make notes on books and journals you will need for a paper or project without going to the library. How do you find out if your library is online? You can either call the library, or go to a good search engine, and enter the name of your college or university and the word “library.” You may sometimes need to enter a student ID number or other password to gain access to the online library.
Even if your school’s library is not online, you may find it useful to search
another online library. This will give you an idea of what has been published
in your area of interest, as well as resources you may want to seek beyond your
library through interlibrary loan.
Next, pick a search engine. Some popular ones are listed here. For your first few searches you may want to try them all, but in time you may come to prefer one or two, and bookmark them for future use. There is no one best search engine.
Enter your keywords into the search engine and hit “enter.” If you get too
many hits, see if you can narrow down your keyword criteria. If you get few
or no hits, broaden your keywords or try another search engine. Then skim through
your search results and visit the sites that seem most promising.
You may also find valuable information in newsgroups or mailing lists. You can use these forums to learn of research in process, ask questions to a group of people involved in your topic of interest, or even do some informal research of your own. For example, a student interested in Macintosh statistical software for psychology could post a query to the Macpsych mailing list asking about what software others use and recommend. However, keep in mind that you should think critically about any information you get from a newsgroup or mailing list.
It is good form to cite Internet sources as you would cite any research source. Citation styles are still evolving, but the fourth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association suggests the following form:
Wainwright, C. William (No date). Stress and Working Parents [Online]. Available: http://www.wainwright.edu [1997, July 14]
When you have access to the Internet, you have an incredible amount of information at your fingertips. But remember that the Internet is not regulated, and anyone can post information there--accurate or inaccurate, helpful or misleading. The following tips will help you make sure the information you're getting is legitimate.
-Consider the source. Web pages maintained by government agencies, reputable
schools, professional organizations, and major organizations like the American
Psychological Association can generally be trusted. Many other groups and individuals
post accurate information as well. It is up to you to use your skepticism and
common sense about any information you find on the Net, and always to be aware
of your information source.
-Know where you are. Even if you start out in a trustworthy site, the click of a button can catapult you into a completely different one. Learn to read your Web address (URL) so you know when you've left one site and entered another.
-Watch for red flags. The same common sense you'd use to evaluate any information applies doubly on the Internet. There are quacks on the Internet who prey on people who are looking for solutions to difficult personal psychological problems. Be especially careful about sending money to anyone with promises that sound too good to be true.
-Get a second opinion. To get more perspective on a piece of information, pick a key phrase or name and run it through a search engine to find other discussions of the topic. Post a query in a newsgroup and, of course, ask around at your school
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