Research Tips

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Website Evaluation

These days, just about anyone can publish to the web, so it's often hard to tell if a site has good, reliable information, or if it was built by someone with an axe to grind and too much time on their hands.

By way of example, take a look at these parody sites, each of which looks like it has reliable information, but instead contains erroneous or misleading statements:

• Dihidrogen Monoxide
• All About Explorers
• Male Pregnancy

So, there's some misleading stuff out there. How do we find the good stuff? These tools should help you to tell the difference.

• This fun website will teach you everything you need to know about evaluating web sites.
• The Quality Information Checklist: A handy checklist to remind you of the things to watch for.

Is Wikipedia Evil?

Wikipedia is an incredibly popular website. But, is it a reliable source? This Power Point will walk you through the advantages and disadvantages of this tool.

Improve Your Searches

Just "Googling" something doesn't always bring you the best results. Googling only brings you the most popular results, which is not the best gauge of accuracy. Here are some tips for improving your searches:

• Google Tips and Tricks
• Searching the Internet: An excellent tutorial, courtesy of Mrs. Macdonald, the Teacher-Librarian at Fort Richmond Collegiate.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a sticky issue. It can be tough to tell when you should quote and when you should paraphrase, not to mention the rules around doing both. This web tutorial, from the good folks at the Acadia University library, takes a lighthearted approach to explaining the ins and outs of plagiarism rules. Check it out!