Most of us are familiar with search engines such as Google that allow users to find websites by searching for keywords. To find detailed information about Google and other search engines, visit the Recommended Search Engines page at UC Berkeley.
Many of you may be familiar with finding websites at directories. While directories frequently have a search feature, one of the benefits to using a directory is the ability to "drill down" through the subject headings. The Subject Directories page at UC Berkeley Library provides information on some of the most common directories.
When searching for Internet sources, it is important to remember that no one tool will index all websites.
If you would like to find more scholarly content using a search engine, try Google Scholar. You can use the "Library Links" under "Scholar Preferences" to link to add our linkresolver to your search results.
When searching general search engines and directories, it is important to remember that these tools generally only index webpages. Most do not evaluate the pages. If you want to find sites that have been evaluated by experts, you may want to check for lists published in professional journals. For example, the American Library Asosciation's Reference and User Services Association publishes an annual "Best Free Websites" list.
Check out the Internet Detective online tutorial from Intute Virtual Training Suite and the handout below for more information about evaluating web sources.
Another way to evaluate websites is to use a site such as register.com or GoDaddy to do a "whois" search for the site. This will show you information about who "owns" the domain.
You can also use Google to see what pages link to a specific address. To do this, simply type link: followed by the website address (with no spaces after the colon).
Want to see what a webpage looked like in the past? Use the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. See also the webpage Finding Old Web Pages.
What's in a name? For help understanding what the different domain extensions tell about a website, visit the ISO's decoding table.
Use the site below to check the validity of a claim or story. There are numerous urban legends/scams/frauds that circulate the net. Don't get fooled!