Online Research Resources

Assessing the Credibility of Web Sites

Before you begin searching the web for sources, you should understand how to evaluate the credibility of web sites. The three web sites linked below offer useful information.

• Literacy Education Online: Assessing the Credibility of Online Sources
• Evaluating Information Found on the Internet
• Using Cybersources

Online Libraries and Library Databases

The sites below provide excellent articles from credible sources.

• ProQuest Direct
  http://www.umi.com/proquest/
• FirstSearch Database
  http://newfirstsearch.oclc.org/

Note: Both ProQuest Direct and FirstSearch require access codes and passwords, which I will give you. An Abode Acrobat Reader is needed to view some documents in these databases (click on the link above for a free download).

• IVCC's Jacobs Library http://www.ivcc.edu/library/
• The Library of Congress
  http://lcweb.loc.gov/
• Internet Public Library
  http://www.ipl.org/

Online Newspapers

• Internet Public Library's Links to Online Newspapers
  http://www.ipl.org/reading/news/
• The New York Times on the Web
  http://www.nytimes.com/
• The Washington Post
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/
• Chicago Tribune: Internet Edition
  http://www.chicagotribune.com
• Chicago Sun-Times Online
  http://www.suntimes.com/index/
• The Apache (IVCC Student Newspaper) http://www.ivcc.edu/apache/

News Organizations

• National Public Radio Online
  http://www.npr.org/
• CNN News
  http://www.cnn.com/
• Leary News Bureau U.S. News Links http://www.learynews.com/links/usnews.
  html
• Leary News Bureau World News Links http://www.learynews.com/links/world.
  html

• World Wide Web Virtual Library: U.S. Government Information Sources
  http://www.nttc.edu/gov_res.html

Writing Essays with Sources

The pages linked below offer information on writing persuasive essays with sources. (Some of the pages focus on writing long research papers, so they may provide more information than you need to know to write a short essay using sources.)

• A Brief Guide to Writing
  Argumentative Essays
  http://www2.rscc.cc.tn.us/~jordan_jj/
  OWL/Argument.html
• Guide for Writing Research Papers
  http://webster.commnet.edu/mla.htm
• A+ Research & Writing for High
  School and College Students
  http://www.ipl.org/teen/aplus/
• Researchpaper.com
  http://www.researchpaper.com/
• Dr. Gwen's Research Paper Information Page
  http://astro.fccj.cc.fl.us/LearningResources/
  DrGwen/research.htm
• MLA Documentation of Internet Sources
  http://www.mla.org/main_stl.htm
• Logical Fallacies
  http://webpages.shepherd.edu/maustin/
  composition/fallacies.htm

• The Gallup Organization
  http://www.gallup.com/home.asp
• American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
  http://www.aclu.org/sitesearch.html
• Finding Data on the Internet: A Journalist's Guide
  http://nilesonline.com/data/

Exploring Controversial Issues

The pages linked below may help you decide on controversial topics you could explore.

• Titles of Books on Controversial Issues
  http://www.cord.edu/dept/referenc/
  controversial.htm
• Titles of Books on Opposing Viewpoints
  http://www.cord.edu/dept/referenc/
  opposing.htm

Internet Search Engines

The best search engine is able to search only an estimated one-sixth of the entire World Wide Web. Using a variety of search engines could help you locate information more effectively than using only one search engine.

The most extensive list of search sites can be found at Beaucoup, which lists links to over 2500 search sites. In a recent study, Northern Light was identified as the most comprehensive search engine, followed by Snap and Altavista. I have also found Hotbot to be an effective search engine and both Dogpile and Highway 61 to be effective meta-search engines.

Embedded below is the search engine Highway 61, which is a meta-search engine (one that runs your search word(s) through several different search engines). If you use Highway 61 from this page, just click your browser's "Back" button to return to this page.

For helpful information on how to use search engines effectively, see How to Search the Web: A Guide to Search Tools.