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Now that we've learned a bit about searching the library's subscriptions, let's explore
the open web. Web research can be tricky, because, as I'm sure you know, anyone can
publish anything on the internet. They don't have to be an expert to do it, they don't
have to submit their work to an editor or a review process -- they don't even have to
use spell check! That means that there's a lot of inaccurate information out there -- and
if you use it to write a research paper, your instructor will notice, and your grade will
suffer. Actually, even beyond college, it's so important to know how to tell the good
from the bad on the internet: if you're doing research for your job, or making an important
health decision -- you want only the best information. With billions of webpages out
there on the open web, how can you quickly get to the best ones? Here on the Web Resources
tab of the COLL100 course guide, librarians have compiled our best search tricks. Let's
look at just a couple. Since COLL100 research topics are focused on learning, the Education
course guides are a good place to start. As you scroll through the list, look for a guide
with a name that fits your research topic. You'll see the same tabs along the top: click
Web Resources and browse the sites listed there. Each of these sites has been hand-picked
by a professional librarian, so you can count on its credibility. Back to our tip list.
Another great librarian trick is to use discipline-specific search engines. These are designed to search
for webpages that are focused a particular subject, rather than every single page on
the internet. Typically they're also focused on trustworthy sites as well. iSeek is a great
choice for education topics. It works just like other search engines....type in your
search terms and go. And here are a lot of great websites to choose from.
Now if you're wondering how I know that these websites are good ones, there are some criteria
that librarians use to evaluate a website, and you can find those linked next to our
search tip list on the COLL100 course guide. If you find a site, and you're not sure if
it's good or bad, you can always ask a librarian for help!