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The Student's Quick Reference Guide to Internet Research

Data Bases

Pro/Con.org is a website that collects controversial topics and presents the pros and cons of both sides of the argument. Resources include short, easy to understand explanations of issues, pre-screened and researched articles, video clips, and pictures, and citations for the site. Topics include: illegal immigration, drug awareness, cell phones, gay marriage, abortion, and much more.

Google Scholar

Library of Congress American Memory

Smithsonian Institute

Five Bad Online Sources

Blogs- Anyone can create a blog, just like anyone can have a twitter, instagram or snapchat account. There is no way to evaluate the authors reliability or expertise on a subject

Personal Web pages- Just like blogs, personal web sites are difficult to evaluate. Avoid them !

Wiki sites, including wikipedia - Wiki sites allow groups of people to add and edit information on individual pages. Wikipedia is a good place to start if you know absolutely nothing about a topic, but use the links on the bottom of the Wikipedia reference to go to more reliable sources.

Movies and Video Games - the latest Call of Duty game might have information you "think" is accurate, the cool horror movie is "based on a true story" or the newest Youtube video might "look" real. Just remember that both movies and video games were created for entertainment not for accuracy

Historical Novels- Novels are fiction, even if they are set in a real historical setting.

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