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English 155: Professor Baquera
Evaluating Web Sites
What to look for:
- Authority - Who is the author? What's his/her background, education, experience? Would you trust the organizations they are affiliated with? Can you find contact information? What is the domain name (eg .com, .edu, .org, .gov, .net)?
- Content & Coverage - What does it cover? Is it aimed at experts? Is the information relevant?
- Timeliness - When was it written? When was it last updated? Is the information still current?
- Accuracy - Can you check the information somewhere else? (Especially important for things like Wikipedia!) Has someone else reviewed the content? Does it include a list of works cited or other clues to how the information was found?
- Objectivity - Does the site have a bias? Are there advertisements or links to organizations that might be a clue? What does the domain name tell you about objectivity?
Narrow or Broaden Your Search (Boolean Searching)
Use AND between terms to narrow your search
example: television and violence and children
Use OR and/or truncate (*, ?) words to broaden your search
example: children or youth or adolescents
example: child* (will find child, children, etc.)
Note: check online help for the correct truncation symbol
Finding Articles
You can use these databases or any others listed on the database pages; this list is only a suggestion of places to start your research. If the full-text is not available for the article you want to see, click the 
button or the "Find Text" link to see if the full-text is available in another database.
- Multi-subject databases such as Academic Search Elite, General OneFile, or LexisNexis
- CQ Researcher for current controversial social issues
- JSTOR and Project MUSE (both contain only scholarly articles)
Helpful Links
- Developing a search strategy: http://library.csun.edu/Research_Assistance/search.html
- How to find a book in the library: http://library.csun.edu/Research_Assistance/i-opac.html
- Types of periodicals (scholarly, popular, etc.): http://library.csun.edu/Research_Assistance/pertype.html
- The Oviatt Library's Citing Your Sources page: http://library.csun.edu/Find_Resources/e-books/estylegd.html
Contact information
If you have questions as you do your research, go to Ask-A- Librarian (http://library.csun.edu/Research_Assistance/askus.html), or contact me directly at danielle.skaggs@csun.edu or 818-677-6808.
18111 Nordhoff St. Northridge CA 91330 (818) 677-2285 |
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