How do you research?

I'm about to teach a bunch of 6th graders how to write a research report. I always hated what I felt were unnecessary evils---turning in note cards and outlines, when I didn't actually use or need them to organize my thoughts. I'm trying to gather different methods of researching and organizing thoughts that REAL people use. Any ideas would be great!

How do you research?
Back when I was in elementary school, back when we still lived in caves and dinosaurs still roamed the earth, we had to learn the old fashioned method of doing research you have mentioned.





I didn't think I would ever need it, but I remember my teachers telling us that one day we would need all that useless crap they were teaching up. Like any other normal kid, I didn't believe them, and we even heard the same story from our teachers in high school.





Then, it happened...I went and got older. I couldn't believe it when I went back to school, because I hated school so much. But this time it was different, it was a subject that I was interested and I didn't have to be there. Suddenly, I was having to use a lot of those things that I never thought I would ever have to use. If those teachers were around I bet they would have been saying, "I told you so!"





The funny thing is it didn't stop there, because I even needed to use the research skills that I had learned in elementry school, when I decided to open my own business.





Then, I needed them again about 15 years or so later, when I closed my store and decided to go back to school in pursuit of another career.





These days I do most of my research online, but every once in a while I still go to the library to do some research. Plus, I also have my own library of computer books, which fill 3 book cases and cover several different operating systems, different programs, and diferent programming languages.





I think, kids still need to be taught the basics, even if it is old school. However, they can also be taught to use the new technology too. You just have to keep in mind all your students may not all have access to a computer at home.





By the way, I'm not quite that old...I'm only 47!
Reply:DUHHH! Google.
Reply:Basically, you can research using various search engines in the Internet like Google, Yahoo, etc. However, there's an easier way to minimise the number of results searched.





You can use signs in your search. Like if you want to specifically look for two or more words ... use a "+" (plus sign). Example, let say you want to look for significance of chlorine in water. You can put "significance" + "chlorine" + "water". That will filtrate the search, making it more accurate.





Another code would be searching a topic with a specific file format (like doc, xls, ppt, etc). You can add in the word "filetype" to your search. Example, say you want to find cats in pdf format. You type "cats filetype:pdf". So, the Internet will only show those about cats in pdf document only.





In organising thoughts, you can use mind-mapping which a comprehensive yet non-detailed way. It'll might be better if the mind-map can have pictures relating to the topic discussed.