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English Research Guide: Finding Web Sites

A research guide covering all composition, literature and mythology courses.

Research Tip: Searching with Google

Google Search Tips:

  • generally, Google should be the LAST thing you search (try Library sources first)
  • use "quotation marks" for phrase searching
  • -site:.com added to your search will eliminate ALL .com sites in search results
  • site:.edu (or site:.gov) will ONLY search within the designated domain
  • when considering using a web site for your paper, evaluate it with the SCARAB Rubric (see Evaluating Sources tab)
  • follow your instructor's source requirements--sometimes they won't let you use sites from the free web
Google Web Search

Research Tip: Free Web vs. Fee Web

The Free Web is made up of web pages you can find using Google and other free web search engines. Some good stuff here, but also a lot of junk. Evaluate carefully!

The Fee Web (also known as the Hidden Web) are subscription databases. You'll usually find better stuff here, as it went through a more rigorous publication process.

Recommended Websites