Finding and Evaluating Web Resources
Library catalogs and periodical indexes will usually give us our best sources. Although books and articles may vary in quality, virtually all of them have had to pass through some sort of peer review process which guarantees at least a minimal degree of quality. (See "Evaluating the Internet as a Source of Information" in chapter eight of The Research Process.) Anybody who wants to can post Web pages, however, and virtually no marketplace or peer review mechanisms are in place to ensure their quality. (Of course we have already mentioned exceptions, such as reliable reference sources online. Other examples include online versions of reputable print journals, and some well edited electronic journals that publish only online.)
The Web is like a frontier town: exciting and fast-paced, but dangerous for the unwary. The Web poses the greatest challenges in finding and evaluating sources.
Most college instructors will agree that college students now tend to over-rely on the Web for information while neglecting to master the traditional library search techniques that often yield superior results. Furthermore, the easy accessibility of Web material encourages over-confidence and tends to inhibit careful, critical thinking about sources. (See "Step Four: Searching the Internet" in chapter four of The Research Process.)
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