Recommended Internet Sites

The Internet is a wild and wonderful place. Each day, hundreds, perhaps thousands of new web sites are launched. It has the capacity to provide cutting-edge, up-to-the-minute information as well as junk.

Searching the Internet for research should complement and not replace using books and periodicals. When searching the Internet, you may start with some sort of search engine, however, I would recommend that you visit the library to access our WebFeet database or check out some Hidden Web Directories first. Once you have inserted your topic into the search engine and are visiting the "hits" or, sites which the search engine thinks matches your query, be prepared to visit sites that have no relevance to your search at all.

If a site seems to be relevant, explore it. Then ask yourself these questions:

1. Is this site a credible site? Information taken from the NASA website will be much more reliable than information taken from a fourth grade class web site. Examine the url (Universal Resource Locator). A url ending with .edu is usually the result of the research of a university unless the .edu is followed by a forward slash (/) and a tilde (~) which indicates the personal pages of a university employee.

The site of a url ending in .org means the site is a not-for-profit institution. Such a site may be very credible or authoritative, such as the American Cancer Society. Be aware that some not-for-profit organizations have an agenda which may be hidden.

2. Does the site have an author? If so, what are his or her credentials? Is the author an expert in the field, associated with a college or university or just a person with an opinion? This is not to say that you should not use a site which does not list an author, just look for other signs of authority or credibility.

3. How recent is the web site? Most web sites should be updated regularly. Is there a notation about when the site was last updated? I would be leery about citing a web page which has not been updated within the last year.

4. Does the site have links to other web sites on the same subject? The author of the web site should have visited other web sites as part of his or her research. You may find these links helpful in your own research.

5. Is the web site referenced? Unless the author of the web site did original research, all information should be cited. (A variety of sources was used to compile these recommendations, most notably, Classroom Connect Newsletter, Kathy Schrock's website and School Library Journal.)

Consider utilizing a directory or hidden web resource. These can be helpful since most of these websites, especially if you are using the Multnomah County Library's directory, the Internet Public Library or the Librarian's Index to the Internet, have been checked for credibility by librarians.

If you insist on utilizing a search engine, you may want help with choosing keywords, especially if your topic can be interpreted broadly, ie: bears- the animal, Chicago Bears, Bad News Bears? Come into the school library or go downtown to the public library for help. Wisenut is a search engine which has an interesting "sneak-a-peek" feature (at least on pc's) where you can view the home page of the websites returned. Consider utilizing the advance search feature of the search engine you choose.

If you use a web site in your research, cite it! Do not cut, copy and paste the web site's information into your report. That is called plagiarism. Plagiarism is cheating. The Library/ Media Center has a "works cited" handout which contains the proper way of citing the many sources that might be used in a research paper.

Please note: I try and check the links regularly. However, websites move frequently and are sometimes withdrawn. If you click on one of these links and find that it is dead, please email the webmaster at, kahn_b@nvnet.org. Thank you.

Search Engines:

Directories, Databases and the Hidden Web

Dictionaries and Thesauri:

Encyclopedias and Reference Databases:

Libraries on the Web:

Newspapers and News Organizations Online:

Sites Recommending Web Sites:

Museums (Art, Science and Natural History):

Puzzles:

Sites for teachers: