Finding Reliable Information on the Internet

There are many general search engines for finding information on the Internet. The most popular at this time are Google, Yahoo!, and Ask.com. Each indexes and presents web pages in different ways. Check the search tips for more details on each search engine.

In addition, there are some specialized sites, such as:

• Scirus, which searches only scientific information 
• Government science portal, Science.gov
• YouTube has some useful instructional videos. Search for your topic, or just search for "chemistry" to see what's available.

Look for a web site from an authoritative source, such as a government agency, professional organization, or academic institution. If an author is named, review their credentials.

Be aware of bias.

Use more than one source. Fact check against additional sources that have been edited or peer reviewed.

Make sure that the information is up to date.

The University of California at Berkeley Library has developed a detailed tutorial that teaches tips and techniques for searching for and evaluating information on the internet. The table of contents is found here at http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html.

The section on search engines is here: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/SearchEngines.html

The section on web page evaluation is here: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html