Search the Web

Google

Intute
link to librarians' internet index

Wikipedia
Search the entire free web. See our Google Tips. Try these to search websites hand-picked by librarians & universities. Search an open-access encyclopedia

Evaluating Websites

Web information is "buyer beware," as there is no overall quality control.

Keep in mind:

  • Information on the Web is being given away - consider why it is free and who pays for the site.
  • Reliable information exists on the Web; so do spoof sites, counterfeit sites, propaganda sites, and sites that are simply inaccurate or outdated, or full of undocumented assertions.
  • "Best bet" Web sources include government agencies, news sites, professional societies, educational institutions, and reputable non-profit organizations. Out-of-copyright literary, historical, and scientific works are likely to be available; free access to recent, copyrighted books and scholarly articles is rare.

In evaluating information from a website, consider the same criteria as for published material:

  • What is the purpose of the information? (inform, persuade, entertain, sell.)
  • Are sources of facts and assertions documented?
  • What are the author's qualifications to write knowledgeably on this topic?
  • How might the information be biased?
  • Is the information outdated, or still relevant?

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Finding Citation Information for Webpages

Author
Look for a byline at the top or bottom of the document.
Look for a link such as "About Us," "Contact," etc. that may provide author information.(Websites often neglect to provide author information for their material.)
Webpage Title
A webpage is a single document within a website (like an article within a magazine or journal).
No obvious title? Check the very top of the browser screen for a title (this comes from the HTML).
Website Title
To find the website title (if any), try truncating the URL to view the website homepage. (This may be the sponsor/host homepage, or it may be one of many websites supported by an organization.)
Sponsoring/Host Organization
The host or sponsoring organization for a website is analogous to the publisher of a print item.
To find the sponsor/host (if not obvious) try truncating the URL all the way back to the domain (.org, .com, etc).
Date
When was the information written/created? Look for a "Last Updated" note. (This is another item frequently left out on web pages.)
Date Accessed
Remember to note this. (It usually appears on printouts from the Web.)

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Best Bets

Google
Search a vast number of sites on the free Web
Here are some tips on searching google
Intute
Search a smaller set of hand-selected sites (Intute is managed by a university consortium in the UK)
Librarian's Internet Index
Database with over 20,000 entries, maintained by librarians and organized into 14 main topics and nearly 300 related topics
Wikipedia
An "open access" Web encyclopedia. Anyone may write an article; anyone may edit an existing article. This can be an excellent start for many topics, but be sure to evaluate the articles carefully - some contributors do a good job of documenting their sources, some do not

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Google Tips


exact phrase use quotes: "war crimes"
site: specify a domain type:
 site:.gov   site:.org
allintitle: all words must appear in the webpage title; may improve precision:
 allintitle:violence schools
define: finds definitions in free online dictionaries:
 define:academia  define:attention deficit disorder
calculator type in a calculation or conversion:
 (2514+623) / 87.3   825 feet in km

Google Directory

  • Select categories to see top-ranked sites for a topic:
    e.g., Society >> Issues >> Crime and Justice >> Death Penalty
  • Search at the main Directory screen to identify useful categories:
    e.g., searching Dracula brings up separate categories for the book, vampire mythology, the 1931 movie, the historical figure Vlad Tepes, etc.
  • Suspicious site? Check its category in the Directory:
    e.g, searching www.ihr.org (the Institute for Historical Review) shows this site under "Hate Groups" - not "History"
Google Images
Search for images on the web
Google US Government Search
Especially good for facts & figures

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More Academic Search Engines


These search engines index a much smaller portion of the Web, covering only a set of hand-picked websites. They often provide quick access to relatively reliable resources.

INFOMINE
Internet Public Library
Internet Scout Project
Librarians Internet Index

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More Commercial Search Engines


These search engines cover a very large number of websites. They are paid for by advertising, and may give "top billing" to sites whose owners have paid for the privilege (some show a separate list of "sponsored sites")

Ask.com
Yahoo
About.com
MetaCrawler

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