{"id":5441,"date":"2011-10-05T23:21:13","date_gmt":"2011-10-05T23:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cas.umw.edu\/historyamericanstudies\/?page_id=5441"},"modified":"2024-07-15T12:27:10","modified_gmt":"2024-07-15T16:27:10","slug":"guide-to-online-research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cas.umw.edu\/historyamericanstudies\/history\/history-department-resources\/research\/guide-to-online-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Guide to Online Research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>
history and american studies<\/div>

Guide to Online Research<\/h1><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

Locating and Evaluating Online History Resources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Online resources offer historians access to sources and information never previously available.  As such, finding good, scholarly sources online can be extremely useful to historians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although there is no single starting place to find online sources, there are a couple of good places to begin:  the department\u2019s list of primary source sites<\/a> and the UMW Library’s Guide to History and American Studies<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also use one of the major search engines (such as Google<\/a> or Yahoo<\/a>) to look for material online, but be careful.  The ease with which sites are posted means that we must be skeptical of the material on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thinking critically about online sources is essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT ALL PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCE WEBSITES<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. Source:\u00a0 Where does it come from?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Authority:\u00a0 Do you know if the individual\/organization who placed this material on the web is reliable?\u00a0 What makes you think the author\/webmaster is reliable or unreliable?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Audience:\u00a0 Who was the site created for?
    Many web sites are not created for a scholarly audience and so have different standards of citation or reliability.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Content:\u00a0What is included in the site? Is the information broad\/deep enough?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Accuracy:\u00a0Is the information accurate?\u00a0 Does it refer to respected secondary sources? \u00a0If a primary source, is it clear that the web site has reproduced the source accurately?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Creation\/Currency:\u00a0 When was the site created\/last updated?\u00a0 What does “update” mean?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Design:\u00a0 Does the site link to other appropriate links and information?\u00a0 Also, is it aesthetically pleasing?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Medium:\u00a0 Does the site take advantage of the medium (of electronic technology) to enhance the source?
    [This does not mean that a site on Jamestown should have a Flash cartoon about John Smith.\u00a0 Instead, is the material searchable?\u00a0 Does it link to other reliable online sources?\u00a0 If a primary source, does it present an image of the original document or item in addition to a transcription?\u00a0 If an original source was audio (song or interview) or video, is that available?]<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. Usability:\u00a0 How is the site organized?\u00a0 How easy would it be for a person to find the information they seek on this site?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    [Adapted from UMCP HILS guidelines.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    ASSESSING THE SOURCE AND AUTHORSHIP OF WEB SITES<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    There are various types of web sites:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • Organizational\/institutional sites<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • News sites<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Information sites<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Personal home pages<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Commercial sites<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      No category is inherently “better” since they serve different purposes, but figuring out which category a web site fits into may reveal something about the author\u2019s intentions, perspectives, audience, and potential bias or problems as a scholarly resource.  As with any source, information on the author\/creator is critical. Any group can give itself an official sounding name or logo, so be sure to find out more about an organization that you have not heard of before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Domain names may provide clues as to the author (or maybe only the site host):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      • .gov – for government sites<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • .org – for organization sites<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • .com – for commercial sites<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • .net – for network sites<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • .ca, .jp, .us – stand for sites in a particular country (Canada, Japan, United States)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • .edu – for education sites\n
          \n
        • Note: Although education sites are more likely to hold to scholarly standards, remember that many universities provide Web space to faculty and students, so personal Web pages can have “.edu” extension.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          The Internet addresses (domain names) correlate to the server which is the “home base” for that Internet address.  Keep in mind that the web host–such as a university or a company such as AOL–is not responsible for content or accuracy of personal Web pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          ULTIMATELY, IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE RELIABILITY OF A PARTICULAR SITE, ASK YOUR PROFESSOR.\u00a0 SHE OR HE CAN HELP YOU ASSESS ITS USEFULNESS AND ACCURACY.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Locating and Evaluating Online History Resources Online resources offer historians access to sources and information never previously available.  As such, finding good, scholarly sources online can be extremely useful to historians. Although there is no single starting place to find online sources, there are a couple of good places to begin:  the department\u2019s list of primary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":851,"featured_media":0,"parent":5311,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"umw_cb_additional_links":[[]],"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_advisory_expires_time":"","_advisory_meta_include":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-5441","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nGuide to Online Research - History and American Studies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cas.umw.edu\/historyamericanstudies\/history-department-resources\/research\/guide-to-online-research\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Guide to Online Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Locating and Evaluating Online History Resources Online resources offer historians access to sources and information never previously available.  As such, finding good, scholarly sources online can be extremely useful to historians. 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