Using Web Sites
When searching for information
on the web for a college-level research paper, you must
proceed with caution. Many professors do not allow websites
to be used in research papers. If they are allowed, they
must be carefully evaluated. Before using information found
on the web, you should speak to your professor about its
appropriateness and value as a source for an academic paper.
Before using a web site, use the Web Page Checklist to help you decide if its an appropiate website.
Searching the web
1. For Current Events and News, see the Hot Topics wepage.
2. For a list of search directories and search engines,
try our web page.
3. Try the advanced search screens of search engines. With
advance searching you can often use Boolean Logic and limit
results to just .gov (government) or .edu (education) sites.
This tend to be more reliable then .com (which support consumer
sites and "homemade" sites such as AOL members).
4. Advocacy organizations related to your topic can be great
sources of information. Just remember to keep their bias
in mind. A list of some organizations can be found on the
Google
Directory.
5. All information taken from the
web must be cited, just as you must cite all articles and books used in your
research
