2. Things we’ll cover…
1. To Internet or not to Internet?
2. How to Google effectively
3. Evaluating websites and web content
4. Reliable web sources
5. Gathering information you’ll need to cite from the Internet
3. Do you Internet?
To Internet
• Official organization and
institution pages
• Publically released reports
and statistics
• News articles, videos, and
commentary/ reviews
• Reliable open source
scholarship
• Nonessential information
or general knowledge
information
Not to Internet
• Reference information
(Wikipedia is a good
place to start but not to
finish)
• Scholarly articles
• Case studies
• Dissertations
• Pirated materials (e.g.
ebooks, music, videos)
4. Know your Google
• Google does not vet
results
• First page of results is
not the most relevant
or accurate
• Google offers promotion
for paid and oft-visited
sites
• Google guesses based
on your search habits
and others’ habits
• Log into library when
using Google Scholar
5. Reading a URL
• Domains tell visitors a lot about the kind of information you’ll
find on the websites
• Frequently used domains:
• Com, or Net–commercial, paid-for sites that anyone can buy or
host
• Org—organization, for non-profits (i.e. charities, churches)
• Expect that these sites have biased information either for/against a
cause
• Edu—educational, colleges & universities
• Gov—official US government site
• Mil—official US military site
• Country domains (.ca, .uk, etc.)—non-US sites use country codes
in their domains many times, this does not make them “official”
websites or representatives of the entire country
6. The CRAAP Test
• Apply smart searching
techniques – the
Internet can be
overwhelming and
often irrelevant,
inaccurate, and
inappropriate for your
research
• Evaluate the websites
you use - CRAAP test
• Ask yourself if it’s
essential information
and if it adds value to
your work
urrency
elevancy
uthority
ccuracy
urpose
7. What can you trust?
• The Statistical Abstract of
the United States
• National Center for
Education Statistics
• Professional associations
• National and
international
organizations
• Open-access scholarly
journal databases
• Digital archives for
primary sources
8. What you’ll need to cite…
• Author names—
sometimes not
available, use
organization name if
you can
• Name of website and
webpage—Not the
same thing!
• Posted or published
date—sometimes
unavailable (n.d.)
• Date of access/
retrieval
9. Library @ North Campus
Days Open Close
Monday-
Thursday
7:30 a.m. 9:00 p.m.
Friday 7:30 a.m. 5:00 p.m.
Saturday 8:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m.
Sunday CLOSED
Online—Access on-campus
and off-campus
http://www.mdc.edu/main/
library
Call us (305) 237-1183
Research Guide:
http://libraryguides.mdc.edu/
resources
Building Hours
10. Help • Visit the Reference Desk
• Call us at (305) 237-
1183
• Chat with us using Ask a
Librarian—from your
mobile phone or
computer at home, in
the library, or
elsewhere
• Sunday to Thursday:
10 a.m. to midnight
• Friday and Saturday:
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Editor's Notes
Currency – Check the date. Is it timely? Is the information still relevant? Check for functional links or updated contact information. Relevancy – How does this relate with your topic? Authority – Who authored this article? What makes him/her an authority on the subject? Is the author or agency publishing this a credible source in the field?Accuracy – Is there evidence to support the information? Are there errors – factual, grammatical, or otherwise? Can you verify this information using another source?Purpose – Does this website or information contain bias? Is it forwarding an agenda?
