Helpful Tips For Locating Quality Internet Resources

Use the Web Sites and Search Engines page in Passports.

This page is a subject directory to websites that have been evaluated and selected by Eden-Webster librarians. For each subject area, we have tried to provide a selective list of the major sites which in turn will link you to areas of individual interest. Preference will be given to sites which provide authoritative information related to the curriculum. Additional criteria for selection include comprehensiveness, reliability, and timeliness.

Search Selective Web Directories.

Some search directories are selective of the websites included in their collection. Websites are reviewed for quality before they are included in the directory's index. You may try searching in one of these directories first to locate quality sites that have passed inspection by librarians, educators, and other reviewers.

Here are a few to try:

• Infomine: Scholarly Internet Resource Collections <http://infomine.ucr.edu/> This directory is maintained by academic librarians from the Libraries of the University of California. The guide offers well-organized access to "the more significant, core and/or reference level resources of a scholarly or educational nature on the Internet".
• Scout Report Archives <http://scout.wisc.edu/Archives//> The sites in this collection were selected by librarians and educators from the University of Wisconsin for their educational value and authoritative content. It is a searchable archive of the "best of the net" as reported in the Scout Report, a well known weekly report on new Internet resources.

Search OCLC WorldCat.

This is a FirstSearch database available from the Passports database menu. The OCLC WorldCat database includes Internet sites in addition to books, media materials, etc. Each Internet resource is described with subject headings and abstracts. Sites included have achieved a stable presence on the Internet so are not the "here today, gone tomorrow" variety site. Starting a search here for a website focusing on your subject may get you fewer and more relevant sites to explore.

What About Wikipedia?

Wikipedia is one of the most popular sites for doing research on the Internet. However, uncritical reliance on Wikipedia can be disastrous for a research paper. Since anyone who has access to a web browser can edit Wikipedia, your professors are understandably reluctant to give this source much credence and may raise an eyebrow (or lower a grade) if they see it cited in a bibliography.

However, there is much good content in Wikipedia. Here are three tips for using it wisely:

• A Wikipedia article can give you a basic overview of a topic that you know little or nothing about, thus serving as a helpful and easily accessible point of orientation.
• Wikipedia articles sometimes have references to scholarly print and online sources.
• Because a Wikipedia article is often edited by a number of people with different opinions, it can make you aware of different points of view. This is especially useful in articles on current events. On the other hand, it means that crackpot theories can find a home on Wikipedia, especially in areas where rigorous proof is hard to come by. You can click on the “History” tab at the top of an article to see the editing that has been done to it.

In sum, Wikipedia can be a useful point of departure for your research. Just make sure you do, in fact, depart from it.