The Web is constantly growing and has made all types of information easily accessible to computer users -- some of it reliable, and some of it questionable. Research-oriented web sites often contain data and textbook-type information in addition to scholarly reports and articles. Google Scholar also provides citations to scholarly articles.

In this section we are talking about the "Open Web," which contains Web sites that are freely available for input and for viewing. While the Internet has improved scholarly communication and information dissemination, it is important to realize that there is no single body or organization that owns or manages the Web. The sites and the information available are not "peer-reviewed" (as are articles in refereed journals). 

Because it is so easy to publish information on the Internet, wading through the millions of pages out there to find reliable sources can be difficult. Evaluating those sources is essential.

Who publishes information on the Web? Look at the domain extension: .edu -- educational institutions .gov -- government agencies .mil -- military entities Other domain extensions are not restricted: .uk (United Kingdom) .ja (Japan) .ca (Canada) -- and many other country sites .org -- nonprofit organizations .net -- network infrastructures .com -- commercial sites NOTE: The last three of these domain extensions began with an intended purpose but are now available to any person or organization for any use.

Unlike the library's catalog of its materials, there is no catalog of all Internet resources. Search engines and subject directories can help you in locating Web resources. Search engines will get you to many good Web sites and many bad ones--to current news and information, to company and organization Web sites, to many opinions (both expert and far-from-expert), and to anything that anyone wants to put there.

Google is where many people start and end, but there are many other search engines, and there is no one search engine that indexes all Web sites.