Why use it?
Limits the search to more credible websites. For example, those belonging to government agencies, universities and professional organizations.
site:.edu paranormal psychology (.edu limits to educational sites)
site:.gov paranormal events (.gov limits to governments sites)
site:.az.gov haunted houses (.az.gov limits to Arizona government sites)
site:.org filmmakers (.org limits to organizations and associations but also commercial sites - use with CAUTION)
site:.mil unexplained phenomena (.mil limits to military sites)
Why use it?
site:www.cia.gov unexplained events
site:www.parapsych.org haunted houses (Search limited to the Parapsychological Association)
Why use it?
Government agencies and professional organizations are an excellent source of statistics.
site:.org paranormal tourism~statistics
site:.gov horror movies~statistics
It is important for a researcher to evaluate any resource for reliability and usefulness. The following are the general elements considered when reviewing a resource.
| Author/Publisher or Sponsor | What is their knowledge of the subject or expertise in the field? Do they have a vested interest in a certain point of view? Pay close attention to an author's word choice, omissions, the limiting of debate, framing of the story, and the selection and use of sources. Bias influences include geography, affiliations and the nature of the medium. |
| Audience | Is the information appropriate for an academic audience? |
| Date | Is something more current needed? |
| Accuracy | Are there errors? Is the resource fact or opinion based? |
| References | Are there citations? Are the cited sources reliable? |
What is the difference between a website and a webpage? A website is a collection of pages and a web page is a single part of a website.
Website:
Website Title. Publisher, Publication Date (Day Month Year), URL. Date of Access (Day Month Year).
Web page:
Author (if any). "Page Title." Website Title, Publisher (if name is different from
website title), Publication Date (Day Month Year), URL. Date of Access (Day
Month Year).
All guides are available under the CC-BY-NC-SA license.