Name:Librarians' Index to the Internet
Brief Description of the Site:
Despite its commercialization, the Web remains a valuable research tool, as this site demonstrates. Think of Librarians' Index to the Internet as a moderated portal to knowledge. Its home page offers no fewer than 14 mega-categories (from "Arts, Crafts, & Humanities" through "Society and Social Issues"), each of which is subdivided into multiple segments, and each of these offers a page of clickable links related to that topic. For example, clicking on "Government and Law" brings up 11 subtopics under "Government" and 14 others under "Law." A further click on "immigration" brings up a seemingly endless page of immigration-related links. This is true Web-based research, and the best part is that the selections are carefully evaluated before posting. The evaluating process also weeds out purely commercial sites, again guaranteeing the pursuit of scholarship.
How to use the site:
Before they turn to Google, your students should look here when beginning research for a project. First, they'll be spared the commercial sites that offer little. Second, the act of analyzing their topic in order to "figure out" where the information might be found is a wonderful learning experience. Those less analytical can simply plug an expression into the powerful search tool. Typing "freedom of speech" brought up 13 links to sites related to this topic. Also, for the student who "just cannot find anything worth researching" this site will provide a cornucopia of ideas. Is a student into "cars"? Have him (or her) click that word and watch his or her face as 32 unique subtopics, from "Air bags" to "Winter Driving" appear on the next screen.
