The URL (uniform resource locator) is a web site's address on the World Wide Web. Look at everything that appears before the first slash. This is the domain name. Most of the time, it will tell you what type of entity is responsible for the web site.
In the domain name: | Indicates: |
---|---|
.edu | educational or research institutions |
.ac. | educational, research, sometimes government entities |
.org | organizations of all types |
.name | personal name |
.com | corporations, businesses, entrepreneurs |
.info | corporations, businesses, individuals |
.coop | cooperative businesses |
.aero | aviation community, including airport businesses |
.museum | museums of all kinds |
.mil | military agencies |
.gov | federal government agencies |
.us | local government agencies in the United States |
.net | generally commercial internet service providers who sell space on their servers to others |
As the internet grows, more categories are added to these top-level domain codes. New codes are listed in an FAQ on the InterNIC web site. Web sites originating outside the United States generally include acountry code in the domain name and will sometimes use other naming conventions.
Following the domain name will be information about the specific web site. The domain may be reliable, but the specific site may be unreliable. Once you know what or who is responsible for the web site, ask yourself:
For example:
If you are not familiar with the specific entity responsible for the web site ask your instructor, another knowledgeable person, or ASK A LIBRARIAN for help.
You may find that you have a lot of freedom in finding resources for your papers. That is a good thing!
We know that the first place you'll go is online -- probably to Google, Yahoo, or Bing. That's fine. That's not a bad thing.
What IS a bad thing is if you use any old website without checking to make sure that it is a good one. Use the following as guidelines in determining whether to use a website for your paper.
A word about Wikipedia: librarians love Wikipedia. Professors love Wikipedia. Everyone loves it. It is a great starting point. BUT, it is generally NOT acceptable to cite Wikipedia in a college-level paper unless your professor has said that it is OK.
In Google, adding site:gov or site:edu to the end of your search will yield results ONLY from government or academic websites. This is better than random pages from Monster.com or the random blog of Joe Schmoe. Here are some examples:
Go ahead, try it! We think you'll be glad you did.