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15 to 30 Billion Pages and Growing!
With an estimated 15 to 30 billion pages of information
on the Web, it's likely you're going to find some information
on just about any topic, but is it the best information? Is
it credible? Is it appropriate for academic research?
While the Internet has greatly expanded the amount of information
at our fingertips, not all of it is good credible information,
suitable for academic research. Because anyone with a computer
and access to the Internet can publish a web site, the quality
of information varies greatly. Unlike books and journal articles,
which undergo an editing and/or peer review process, information
on the Web is not subject to quality control. This means that
it's up to you to evaluate information you find on the Web,
which you will learn to do in the next section on evaluating
web sites.
How to Find High Quality Information on the Web
Learning which search tools to use and how to use them correctly
will greatly increase your chances of finding quality information
that's appropriate for an academic research project.
Search Tools
There are two main types of Internet search tools - search
engines, such as Google, Ask.com, and subject directories,
such as Librarians' Index to the Internet, and Infomine.
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MLA
