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• One on One help learning how to use library resources
• Interlibrary Loan
• Turnitin.com Information

I love to Google! There, I said it. It's easy and fast. I get a whole bunch of stuff when I search. Sometimes too much. And, sometimes I wonder if I can trust the information I find there. More importantly, will my instructor trust the information I found? My grade is riding on this. What do I do?

Here are a few criteria to keep in mind when evaluating any kind of information you find on the Internet.

Reliability/Authority of the Author

• Who is the author?
• Does the author have credentials?
• Does the author have other reputable publications?
• Have other scholars cited their work?

Tone/Bias of the Website or Information

• Who is the intended audience?
• Does the information appear to be opinion or based upon research?
• Is the work misleading or appear to be ideologically slanted in any way?
• Why was the work produced?
  • Informative
  • Persuasive
  • Itertainment
  • Commercial

Accuracy of the Information

• Are the sources listed?
• Can you verify the information presented?
• Is the subject matter thoroughtly covered?
• Are there misspelled words, careless errors, or examples of poor grammar?

Currency of the Information or Website

• When was the site or source last updated?
• When was the site or source produced?
• Is the information current?
• Does it use reliable and verifiable statistics and facts?

Fee or Free

• Paid subscriptions help support scholarly work through the peer review process and other quality controls
• Free sites can be published by anyone whether they are an expert or not

These are my database favorites--the ones that I recommend most often and the ones that I use for my own research.

This video was created by Peabody Library at Vanderbilt University to explain the difference between Scholarly Journals and Popular Magazines. 

This video was created by the Franklin D. Schurz Library at Indiana University South Bend to explain how boolean operators can make your research results stronger.

This is a fun video advertising the library at my alma mater.

An intriguing explanation of copyright and fair use, making fair use of snippets of Disney films.

This is something I encountered in doing research for my dissertation. It goes to show that everything, even information from one of our databases, should be checked for authenticity and veracity.

1. From the A&M-Commerce home page: http://web.tamuc.edu/
2. Click on "Current Students" link along to top of the page
3. On the next page, you will find a link to the Library under "Classes & Academics"
4. Or take this link: http://www.tamuc.edu/library

Note: Open the library outside eCollege.</p

Commerce Campus Hours

Mesquite Campus Hours

See some of the displays I have created to promote library services, events, and strategies.

Please contact us for assistance!

Research Help Desk: 903.886.5720 (Commerce Campus)

Research Help Desk: 972.882.7535 (Metroplex Center)