Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Library Tip of the Week

Are you using Google or Wikipedia when you do research for a class project or paper? If you are, stop! Google is a search engine, and while it does a great job tracking down hits from your keyword searches, it does not guarantee the accuracy of any information from the resulting websites.

Wikipedia is just that: a wiki that anyone can add to and edit. In general, Wikipedia does have some broad editorial control over the accuracy of its content. In reality, however, anybody can post whatever they want. The bottom line is you can't trust what you read on Wikipedia.

So where can you turn? To your very own library of course! Smith's Destiny homepage has a wide variety of online databases and encyclopedias, all of them just a click away. Best of all? You can trust the accuracy and authenticity of the information you get.

Here's how you get started:
  1. Go to http://www.cfisd.net/
  2. Hover your mouse over "Departments" in the middle menu tab
  3. Click on "libraries"
  4. Click on "Middle Schools"
  5. Click on "Smith"

The default home page should immediately come up. The online databases and encyclopedias list is in the middle of the page, to the right. Click on a database and begin your searching!