Finding Internet Resources
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The reference librarians at Emerson Library, Webster University, create and maintain subject guides of selected web sites. These are not intended to be exhaustive lists, but rather starting points and "gateways" to World Wide Web resources. The following guides may be of use for counseling and psychology research:
- Popular directories include Yahoo!, InfoMine, and The Scout Archives.
- Directories are helpful when you are searching in an unfamiliar subject area and want to know the kinds of Internet sites available. They give you the "big picture" of the types of resources you can find on the Internet.
- Choose a directory when you are looking for a few good, relevant sites rather than "everything" on the Internet that happens to mention a certain keyword.
- You can often limit your search in a directory to resources in a certain area, such as counseling. For example, let's say you want information on interviewing in a clinical setting. By limiting your search to counseling or psychology, you don't have to sort through items in a different area, such as "job interviewing" in employment.
- Popular search engines include: Google, Yahoo, and Ask.com.
- Most search engines index every word of an Internet document. This is helpful when you are searching for a unique or obscure expression and didn't find what you wanted in a directory.
- Search engines will usually provide a large number of sites. Be prepared to add more search words to focus your search.
- See our tips on constructing your search strategy for more information.
- Search engines are often more "up-to-date" as it may take longer for a site to be added to a directory.
Bottom line: The Web is huge! Each search engine and directory finds only a percentage of all the Web sites available. Some web sites will never be found by search engines or directories.
Additional helpful tutorials: