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How do I find quality information on the Internet?

The Internet is a self-publishing medium which means that anyone can publish there. Because of this, the user must evaluate everything found on the Internet for authorship, relevance, accuracy, timeliness, etc.

The Internet is a unique information resource that is very useful for locating certain types of information such as:

  • Government information: state, national, and international
  • Statistics; brief reports; and studies
  • News and current events (weather, stock quotes, sports scores; press releases)
  • Information on educational institutions, companies, and non-profit organizations
  • Selected electronic journals and texts-selected primary sources
  • Reference works (encyclopedias and dictionaries)
  • Travel and entertainment information
  • Product information
  • Personal information

The best way to locate quality information on the Internet is to think about where that information might be found or who would be most likely to provide the information needed.

For instance, if a U.S. government agency is likely to be the best source for the information, go to that agency's site. If an organization is likely to be the best source, go to the site for the organization.

  • Use a search engine to locate the best source for the information rather than to search by topic.
  • If you choose to search by topic, use the advanced search capabilities of the search engine to narrow your search by domain (edu, gov, org).
  • Read the Help screens to learn how to use the search engine most efficiently.

Another way to locate quality information is to utilize directories (organized by subject) or sites created by specialists in a field, educators, librarians, or academic institutions. These people have the expertise and the desire to evaluate and select quality websites.

Yahoo provides a directory, but many of the sites included in that directory are commercial sites. These are sites that most students should ignore when doing research. Yahoo does not evaluate sites in the same way that the evaluated directories do.

The following evaluated directories are recommended as excellent resources for starting your research on the Internet. They include sites created by specialists, educators, librarians, and academic institutions:

For additional assistance with locating quality information on the Internet, contact a Reference Librarian at Reference Desk or at (413) 774-1509.