You have completed
Chapter 6:
Using the World Wide Web
for Accessing Information
Summary
You should now be able to:
- Understand what the World Wide Web is, how it is structured, and how it is organized (or not organized).
- Know what types of information can be found on the Web.
- Identify Web sites by domain, including commercial, nonprofit, educational, and government sites.
- Be able to connect to Web sites via their URLs (addresses).
- Understand the difference between "free" and "fee" Web sites.
- Understand and be able to use a variety of Web searching tools.
- Identify at least three Web subject directories and find information within them by following links.
- Evaluate and interpret Web search results.
- Evaluate the content of a Web site utilizing standards of authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency, and level of coverage.
- Analyze a specific Web site to determine its purpose, to identify the person or organization responsible for the information, the source of the information within the Web site, and when the Web site was created or updated.
- Identify all of the information needed to cite a Web page source.
Expert Advice
Similar to database searching, Web searching takes practice. Try this: Using one of the search engines, look for information on a topic that interests you. Look through the search results noticing the domains of each Web site. Try to find a reliable source you could use for a research paper. Find the "about" or "about us" portion of the site to examine who or what organization created the site and what their credentials are (e.g., education, job position). If the site seems likely to be reliable, continue to assess it by comparing the evaluation criteria listed in this lesson in the section "Evaluating Information from the Web."
And if you'd like additional information, try these resources:
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