Free Web
Your Library's Online
Resources
(aka "Invisible Web")
· Information chosen by libraries for relevance to curriculum, correlation to academic standards.
· Broad sweep of all information openly available online.
Quality, type and relevance of information
· Unreliable for getting to deep archives, peer-reviewed or refereed content. Links to information that can be out of date and/or taken from sources unknown or open to question.
· Note: same uncertainty holds true for Wikipedia-style encyclopedias; user-supplied content can be poorly sourced.
· Google Scholar Searches can be done for more scholarly literature (newspapers, curriculum-relevant magazines and journal archives), but many are only available for a fee.
· Accurate. Reviewed and updated regularly.
· Designed by librarians and end-users through advisory boards, interviews and focused research.
· Access to full-text articles provided.
· Reflects partnership with thousands of publishers to ensure copyrighted newspaper, magazine and journal content is included in search results.
Organization, searching
· Search by keyword, combination of keyword and subject, by date for most recent, relevant results.
· Provides keyword searching. May not have subject categories.
Research Aids
· Features/functionality assists the research process (email capability, citation models), etc.
· Remember, your librarian knows more than just books. They're experts in finding hidden information if you get stumped.
· Not much support.
Paid placements and ads
· Ads and links are sought for profit can distract users from research task.
Bottom line
· Free. Inconsistent¾can be good for quick questions, but for academic research, time can be wasted viewing irrelevant websites or judging incomplete, false or misleading information. If used for