Determining the Suitability of Online Research Materials Beth Thompson

Research Projects Frequently teachers require that students use a specific number of sources of a certain format for their research projects, i.e.: “X number of book sources and Y number of internet sources” e.g.: “You must use at least 2 book sources and no more than 3 internet sources”

In today’s world Libraries subscribe to DATABASES which contain digital versions of print resources

These databases are a very inexpensive way of accessing HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS worth of magazines, newspapers, scholarly journals, books, papers and dissertations, and other print resources

Many teachers say that if a source is accessed by a computer, it does not count as a “book” source… I DISAGREE WITH THIS!!!

WHY? HERE’S JUST ONE EXAMPLE:

Here is another example: Literature Resource Center a Gale Database available through the Talbot County Free Library website

CONCLUSION: Sources that can be retrieved from subscription databases are, for the most part respectable and trustworthy. In other words, they are good!

NOW, HOW DO WE JUDGE SOURCES THAT ARE FOUND DOING A REGULAR INTERNET SEARCH?

Do a search using a common search engine such as: YAHOO GOOGLE ASK

WHAT CAN YOU TELL ABOUT A SOURCE FROM THE URL? (web address link)

RULES OF THUMB a)if it ends in.com it is a BUSINESS b)If it ends in.gov it is a GOVERNMENT AGENCY c).edu is usually a SCHOOL, COLLEGE, or UNIVERSITY d).org might be OK, but you may want to do further research e)Wikipedia shows up in most searches, but many teachers do not allow students to use it as a source (although references at the end of the articles may point to further sources)

FURTHER WAYS TO DETERMINE RELIABILITY OF A WEB SOURCE Who links to it? In the Google search box type: link: [all or part of URL] Who owns the web site? - Go to - Enter domain name into box When was the site last updated? Go to the page you want to double-check, highlight the address bar content and paste this into the address bar - javascript:alert(document.lastModified) Then, press ENTER. The last date modified will pop up.

CONCLUSION  THE FUTURE IS NOW!  More and more professional, scholarly and scientific materials are being published in digital format, accessible online through databases and internet searches  EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW HOW TO JUDGE INTERNET SOURCES  That goes for print sources, too  Any questions?