Unlike most print publications which have editors and editorial boards to screen and select content, any individual or group can publish on the world wide web. This lack of quality control and the explosion of web sites makes the task of finding quality information on the web especially critical. Numerous studies report that search engines are difficult to use, only cover a fraction of existing sites and often are not selective in terms of quality.
This presentation will focus primarily on finding quality subject guides and other resources on the web itself utilizing Internet Catalogs and Web Rating and Evaluation Sites produced, for the most part, under the auspices of libraries and librarians. The web contains numerous subject guides on various disciplines and topics which have been selected and edited by scholars and librarians. These guides often include descriptive annotations and sometimes graphical ratings such as stars or check marks. They usually list and evaluate "megasites" within a field. These megasites, in turn, link to more specific sites. Secondarily, this presentation will include some tips for locating subject guides utilizing search engines.
