Internet Research GuideResearch project for school got you a little overwhelmed? The tips and tricks

on this handout will get you on your way to finding great information!

Test out Those WebsitesOne quick search on Google will show you that there are tons and tons of websites out there on any topic imaginable. But some websites aren’t as good as others. Anyone can put a website out on the internet so you’ve got to dig a little deeper to decide whether what you’re seeing on the computer screen is correct information. The checklist below gives you some tips to decide whether you should use a website for your research project or not.

Author (Who wrote the website?) Is the author’s name listed anywhere on the website? Is there an “about” section? What is the domain? (.com=people and companies trying to make

money .org=organizations like World Wildlife Fund or Red Cross .edu=educational sites like schools and colleges .gov=sites about our government)

Accuracy (How correct is the information on the website?) Is there a list of sources used to gather the information? Are there links to other information on the topic? Do these links work?

Objectiveness (Is the information on the website fact or is it someone’s opinion?) Are multiple perspectives (opinions) of an issue/topic represented? Does the information include the words “think”, “believe”, or other

keywords that might indicate this is opinion and not fact? Are there ads the page related to the information?

Currency (How up to date is the information on the website?) Is there a “date last updated” listed? If so, is it within the last 6 months? Do all (or most) of the links on the site work (or do you get a “page not

found” error)?

Better Search Engines than GoogleUnlike Google, these search engines will only show you websites that pass the test on the front side of this handout. They will also only show you websites that you’ll be able to read and understand. KidsClick (http://www.kidsclick.org) Yahoo Kids (http://kids.yahoo.com) Internet Public Library Kids Space (http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/) Fact Monster (www.factmonster.com)

Online Encyclopedias Available at WPLAll can be accessed at http://www.waukeganpl.org/kids/homework.html; you can use them in the library or at home if you have a WPL Library card:

America the Beautiful - Each of the 50 states, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the major territories, is covered in depth.

Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia - Covers geography, history, arts, science, recreation, and more.

Lands and Peoples - Describes each country's land, people, economy, history, and government.

New Book of Knowledge - An encyclopedia containing thousands of articles, a current events page, projects and experiments, reader's advice, homework guides, a teacher's guide, and other links to related sites.

New Book of Popular Science - Provides articles on scientific subjects from Animals to Chemistry to Mathematics.