LibGuides: Biology: Websites

Useful Websites

The following websites may provide helpful information on environmental science:

Evaluate websites that have information you would like to use in your assignments.

Look on each website for an "About Us" page to answer some of the following questions:

	("climate change" OR "global warming") AND sea level site:.gov
	174,000 results
	How does climate change affect sea level?
	3,150,000 results

Here's how to craft a better search to get fewer and more relevant results:

Identify the main ideas in your research question.
How does climate change affect sea level?
Connect the main ideas with AND.
climate change AND sea level
Use quotation marks around 2 or more words.
"climate change" AND "sea level"
Use OR between synonyms/related terms.
("climate change" OR "global warming") AND sea level
Limit your search to a specific domain, such as .edu, .gov, or .org.
("climate change" OR "global warming") AND sea level site:.gov

How Wikipedia CAN be useful in the beginning stages of research:

	A basic overview of your topic.
	Important names and vocabulary related to your topic.
	Table of contents for some entries, helping you to understand how your topic can be organized.
	References and other websites that may be helpful (though you will need to evaluate them to be sure).

Why NOT to use Wikipedia for academic research:

X	Anyone can contribute to a Wikipedia article.
X	No information about authors' credentials and purpose.