The Internet is constantly growing and
has made all types of information easily accessible to computer users
-- some of it high-quality, and some of it questionable.
Research-oriented Web sites often contain data and textbook-type information
in addition to scholarly reports and articles. And there is Google Scholar which provides citations to quality, scholarly articles. We talked about Google Scholar in Section 2.
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
Internet. The sites and the information available are not "peer-reviewed"
(as are articles in refereed journals). And, there is no "policing"
about how the information is used. Because it is so easy to publish
information on the Internet, wading through the millions of pages out
there to find high-quality sources can be difficult. Evaluating
those sources is essential (see Section
5).
Unlike the library's catalog of its
materials, there is no catalog of all Internet resources.
One place you can go to identify quality Web sites is the "Nursing and Allied Health" Subject Guide on the Library's Web site.
There are also search engines and
subject directories that can help you in locating Web resources.
