Everything Is NOT On The Internet

The internet is very valuable, but there are still many paper resources that may be more useful--and more reliable

It's common for students to think "everything is on the Internet." Not true. It is very valuable, of course, but you should realize there are still many paper resources that may be more useful--and more reliable. But it gets more complicated.

Many of the types of information sources mentioned in the previous screens--reference material, periodical articles, books--first came out in paper form but have been digitized and can be accessed online. So saying something is "on the Internet" doesn't mean much. More important are who wrote and published it and whether it is a reliable source. As we've mentioned before, it is important to understand that there are "private" and "public" portions of the Internet. The private portions often are the sources that were published in paper format first, then went to the Internet. Search engines, such as Google, do not find this information because it is hidden behind a password.

Because you use the exact same technology to access it, it can be difficult to tell where you are. More on this later. What you need to really understand is which kind of source is best, not whether the source is online or on paper.