When you need to conduct research for a 4-H club talk or a school paper, your computer and the Internet have most of the information you need. Best of all you never have to worry about overdue books while writing your report. You can be preparing it any day of the week and any time of the day. It sounds easy, and it is. The part you must do is evaluate the information you find and organize it into the plan that is best for you. You'll also use your skills with a word processing program to write the report. Oh, yes, plan to start early enough to have fun and explore some of the Web sites you visit during your searches. This activity lets you "put it all together."

     A computer with access to the Internet and a printer.

1. Identify your topic and due date.



2. Do a Web search to identify sources of information. Bookmark them for future reference.



3. Decide if you will include sketches or pictures in your final report.



4. Download information and images that will be used. Be sure these belong to the public domain. Information copied from the Web should be footnoted (see DATA-BANK for information on citing Internet sources).



5. Consider developing a graph of data that you've collected (using a spreadsheet or graphics program).



6. Write your report. Use various functions such as "cut" and "paste" and "import" to develop the final copy of your report.



7. Do a spell check.

• How does Internet research compare with library research?



• What was the most difficult part of conducting your Internet research?



• How did you ensure that the information you found on the WWW was reliable?

     Mentor a classmate in conducting Internet research, or give a demonstration to your club or class on finding information on the Web.

     Offer to help children in a younger grade learn research skills on the Internet.

     A good place to begin searching for topics is the Yahoo Website at http://www.yahoo.com/

     Citing Internet Resources:

• A complete reference to citing Internet addresses is available online at http://www.classroom.com/resource/citingnetresources.asp.

Adapted from material developed by Illinois 4-H. Used by permission.

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