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I am getting lots of downvotes on my question because its poorly researched (as claimed by downvoters). I want to know how to research.

I read/watched book/movie decades ago. And, I don't have access to reliable websites to do research. What to do?

Should I leave this community?

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    According to your profile, you are from India and neither Google nor Wikipedia should be blocked by your country. Are you asking this question as a theoretical exercise? Are you just trying to show the unfairness of the the General Reference/poorly researched rules?
    – DavRob60
    Aug 21, 2012 at 13:31
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    Alternatively are you accessing the web at work? Many companies limit employee web access to sites they need for work.
    – Richard
    Aug 21, 2012 at 13:35
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    Did you change countries recently?
    – NominSim
    Aug 21, 2012 at 15:20
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    While I wasn't going to bring it up, @NominSim has a strong point. You have listed India as your country in your profile. While searching I found that the Indian government sends an average of 3 requests every 2 days to Google about blocking services or sites. If Google were blocked, the government wouldn't be asking them to block pages or services and several searches on the topic fail to show an indication of Wikipedia being banned in India.
    – Tango
    Aug 21, 2012 at 16:07
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    Have you tried reading the source material? There is no source like the source. Aug 21, 2012 at 16:40
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    I have to ask -- when did you lose access? You reference specific articles in the Wikipedia and on wikia.com in your answers. For a lot of the material on this site, the wikis on wikia are more helpful than the Wikipedia.
    – Tango
    Aug 21, 2012 at 17:52
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    @DavRob India is my home country.. I'm currently in different one Aug 21, 2012 at 17:56
  • @NominSim Yes. Nice Guess. Aug 21, 2012 at 17:57
  • @Keen I did have access to both. But, not at this time. Aug 21, 2012 at 17:58
  • @TangoOversway Yes, I did have access to every site when I was in India. Aug 21, 2012 at 18:00
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    Which country are you in? Without that information, this whole discussion is pointless.
    – user1027
    Aug 22, 2012 at 1:39
  • @Keen The framework is that I don't have access to reliable websites. And, I know what I am saying (I am also a web nerd). Do I really need to disclose private things? Aug 22, 2012 at 3:05
  • @SachinShekhar That's not a country I've ever heard of.
    – user1027
    Aug 22, 2012 at 3:10
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    @SachinShekhar Saudi Arabia seems to be the only country in the world that has blocked both Google and all of Wikipedia...
    – Izkata
    Aug 22, 2012 at 3:26
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    Sachin, you asked the question, about wanting to know how to research from the country that you claim has Google and Wikipedia blocked, but don't care to provide the name of the country, as you say that is private information. To be frank, to me this leads credence to the theory that you are simply asking this question as an excuse to justify poorly researched questions/answers. You don't seem to want to provide us with enough information to help, and seem only concerned with putting it "out there" that your "poor research" is a result of censorship that is not under your control.
    – NominSim
    Aug 27, 2012 at 19:51

4 Answers 4

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If you've permanently moved to this new country that doesn't have access to Google or Wikipedia, that will severely limit the resources that you have available. However, this is the internet we are talking about, you should be able to find other websites/search engines that will aid you in researching an answer.

That being said, every answer has a certain layer of subjectivity, and if you feel that you aren't providing answers that have good enough references, the answer seems simple: Don't answer them then.

If I see for example, a Harry Potter question to which I think there is a canonical answer from the book, but don't have the reference in front of me to be accurate, I won't answer until I do. From your other questions 1,2 you're worried about down votes, and from this one particularly about providing accurate research/sources for your answers.

Really this has to be up to you, but it seems like you feel that you can't provide decent sources for answers anymore, nor do you feel that you can properly research a question. If that is the case, then it is likely that your questions/answers will continue to get some down votes. (Keep in mind that as far as rep goes it takes only one up vote to counteract five down votes on an answer.)

According to your comment you say that you have are currently in a different country, could you elaborate as far as which country you are now in? There are plenty of resources available aside from Google or Wikipedia depending on what country you are in. Search Engine Colossus has a list of the best available search engines for a large collection of countries, hopefully that will provide you with sufficient resources to continue contributing quality answer/questions.

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Have you tried:

?

There is more to SF&F on the web than Wikipedia and Google.

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There are many proxy sites one can use, as well as VPN sites, such as StrongVPN.com, that allow one to create private connections and tunnels to other sites or to freely access the rest of the Internet. Some proxy services are free, some have a subscription fee.

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  • I know that. I just don't want to violate laws. Why are you ignoring the main question? Aug 21, 2012 at 12:12
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    @SachinShekhar You seem to be asking two questions here. First, you ask how you can research question/answers if google/wikipedia is blocked in your country, and second you ask whether you should leave the scifi.se community. To the first, TangoOversway posted a valid answer that you are wary of due to legality concerns (check your local laws to determine this). The second is really more of a subjective, personal question that you'll need to answer.
    – Xantec
    Aug 21, 2012 at 16:35
  • @Xantec There can be other ways to research. I am not going to murder someone to do this.. Aug 21, 2012 at 18:02
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If the country you are currently in is blocking websites, and you don't want to use proxies to get around this I see two options that may remain legal:

Contact a friend in another country who is able to provide you with information. Or...

Head to a local library to find the local source of information.

These could both be an issue if the country has locked down these options as well, but I would certainly move before letting a country's laws force me to leave an online community such as stack exchange, though I know that is a very personal decision.

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