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Harlem Renaissance: Recommended Websites

Evaluating Websites

Use the CABLE Method to Evaluate Resources

  • Currency (When?) When was it published or last updated? Are references to other resources up to date?
  • Authority (Who?) Who wrote the information and what are their credentials? Is additional information about the author available?
  • Bias  (Why?) What does the author say is the purpose of the resource? Is more than one point of view presented?
  • Level  (What?) How useful is this information for your purpose? Does it cover your subject in enough depth? Do you feel comfortable citing this page in a college-level assignment?
  • Explore  (Where?) Has the author published other useful information?  Do you have access to the cited resources? Are there similar or more definitive resources on this subject matter?

Adapted from: The Library Instruction Cookbook "CABLE Cook-off: Learning to Evaluate Web Sites" (90-91)

Improve your Google Search

Understanding Web Domains

The domain of a website provides basic information about the creating entity of the site. This information helps you to determine the site's authority.

DOMAIN  Source Types
.com Commercial entities
.edu Educational institutions
.gov Government agencies
.org Non-profit organizations
.mil Military
.net Network infrastructures

For example, if you are looking for a government website you will most likely go to a site with .gov in the web address. (ex. http://www.census.gov/).

Limit by Domain (.org, .gov, .edu, .mil)        use site:

  • "Julia Child" site:.gov will retrieve results with Julia Child as a phrase in .gov (government) sites.
  • "immigration statistics" site:.gov

Google Scholar

Searching Google Scholar is a great way to find electronic journals on the web, free e-books through Google Books and scholarly documents.

Google Scholar Search