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Using Websites as Research
Websites can be useful information sources, but they require careful evaluation. Anyone can create a website, and they typically go through less fact-checking and editing than articles from library databases, if any at all. The Evaluating Sources page shows you how to verify information you find online.
Two approaches to finding website are:
- Find a reliable website you already know.
- Use a search engine like Google.
For example, if you are looking for statistics on population growth in Northern Virginia, you might go to the US Census Bureau website. You could also try state or local government websites. Think about which government agency might be interested in the topic you are researching: CDC for disease; HUDD for housing; Bureau of Labor Statistics for employment. If you don't know which government agency to search, try USA.gov.
Google Search Tips
Put phrases in quotation marks:
To search for your terms just in the titles of web pages, type intitle: in front of your terms.
Limit your results to certain domains (e.g., .edu, .gov, .org)
Search for the websites of organizations you read about in articles -- these organizations often have useful information.