GN307 .C68 2001

Library Subscription Databases (Finding Articles) http://www.chabotcollege.edu/Library/abby/dblist.html.  —To find specific information published in magazines, journals, and newspapers.  Originally published in print form. When searching for articles, be prepared to narrow down your topic.

Web Sites   Instead of searching the World Wide Web at large with a search engine such as Google, consider beginning your search from one of the guides listed below.  These sites will lead you to quality, selected web sites containing definite, factual information.  A search engine cannot always guarantee you that you will be led to reliable results.  If you ever use a search engine to find a web site, be prepared to evaluate a web site, carefully.  Use the Web Evaluation Checklist. 

Ethnomusicology, Folk Music, and World Music Web Sites

University of Washington  http://www.lib.washington.edu/music/world.html

Sibelius Academy  http://www2.siba.fi/Kulttuuripalvelut/folk.html

African Music on the Internet  http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/music.html

World Music at RootsWorld  http://www.rootsworld.com/rw/

International Music Archives  http://tinyurl.com/5utzq

World Wide Web: Academic Searching
http://www.chabotcollege.edu/Library/handouts/metasites.html

World Wide Web: General Searching http://www.chabotcollege.edu/Library/handouts/Eng1A/Transue.html#search

Warning: Anybody can put anything on the Web

Examples of Deliberate Lies posted on the Web:

Beware of DHMO  http://www.circus.com/~no_dhmo/  One of many clever web site satires on the Web on the dangersous chemical, “dihydrogen monoxide” (which is actually water) and that it should be banned (DHMO, a clever twist of abbreviating water differently than its well-known H2O). 

Martin Luther King: A True Historical Examination  http://www.martinlutherking.org/  A disturbing, deceptive web site that actually distorts the life of Martin Luther King and actually has rather racist and anti-semetic views posted.  Sponsored by a white supremacist group.  This site often appears in the top ten results in Google! 

There also are often unconfirmed rumors that are often posted on so-called “news sites” on the Web, and yet some of these “news sites” are picked up in Google News.  Think of a search engine picking up journals, newspapers, articles posing as advertisements inserted in a magazine, fliers on car windshields, junk mail in your mailbox, and hate literature without distinguishing or labeling clearly any of these items.  Always proceed with caution.

Advice: Regardless of domain, always be skeptical of any site you find on the web.  In general, we recommend you look at web sites ending with .gov, .edu, or .org.  In some cases, you may come across reliable web sites from another country that will usually have a two letter extension (ex: .il for Italy).  Be sure to be able to evaluate the site, regardless, using the Web Evaluation Checklist.

Web Evaluation Checklist  http://www.chabotcollege.edu/Library/abby/evaluation.html

.gov  Sites come from different departments and entities of the United States.  State government sites may have a .us domain, followed by its state, instead.  Contains reliable information, usually.  Government institutions have the responsibility to provide accurate, detailed information, and reliability is high.  That does not mean that these sites are 100% free of a political viewpoint or politics, even if done more neutrally, however-- but such effects are usually minor and information is usually presented objectively.  Note:  Some information could be removed or not posted these days due to national security reasons, and sometimes materials could be removed because a previous president's/governor's policies do not gel with the current one’s.  Guarantee of quality: high, in most cases

.edu  Sites from educational institutions, usually colleges and universities.  Often contains in-depth research projects, instructional materials from professors, and projects provided by academic departments.  Keep your eyes open for college students' web sites and personal pages, however, as there is no criteria for their information to be on the Web, and unless students demonstrate competent research on their web sites, do not consider such pages.  Student web pages usually have a directory/folder in the web address that resembles a username, usually followed by a tilde (~):  www.berkeley.edu/~pbailey/factsoncloning.html  (The institution may be UC Berkeley, but later a username follows, revealing a student's web page.  The "facts" on cloning could be presented by a freshman student who put the assignment together in haste, and did not use reliable sources for his page, which he may have not even included).  Occasionally, a non-profit organization may have a .edu domain, especially if it is also part of an educational institution (example: the Hoover Institute of Stanford University is probably more like a non-profit). Guarantee of quality: high if there is no username is present.  If a username is present, especially with a tilde, quality is LOW

.org  Sites from nonprofit organizations.  Some nonprofit organizations can be research institutions similar to an educational one.  For example, the non-partisan Rand organization has a world-wide reputation for its excellent research and its reports are sometimes considered more authoritative than even government reports.  However, some nonprofit organizations often are strongly opinionated, as well.  In general, unless you know something about the institution, do not consider a .org site to be a place to get an objective overview but to find research-oriented data that supports an opinion, cause, or claim.  Guarantee of quality: medium, overall.  High, if it is a reputable, non-political non-profit.  Some non-profit organizations do not back up their opinions or causes well on their web sites, but may have print resources that do.  Some obscure ones may not do a good job backing their claims at all.  Rely on the reputation of the institution, and consider looking it up in the Encyclopedia of Associations for more information.  Remember that politically charged sites exist to persuade you, almost to the effect of "selling" you ideas or points of views.

.com  Unless you pick up a .com site from the Academic metasites listed above, be prepared to not really find information, but more of a commercial, as that is what .com stands for: commercial.  Not only do such sites often provide a lot of ads, either in the forms of banner advertising, pop-up ads, or "sponsored links," but such sites are often also selling a product or service.  Some information or dictionaries these sites contain could be actually limited, trivial, or even distorted as it could be convincing you to buy their product or services.  Some information sites such as newspapers and news stations can still be good-- though sometimes not all news/information content is available or you need to "register" to use the sites (read that as inviting junk E-mail), and sometimes you may be asked to pay for access to an article or other information resource.   With the resources the Library has available online, you do not have to spend money on web services from online newspapers, magazines, or news stations-- a lot of the same information is available in Library subscription databases.   Guarantee of quality:  Depends on reputation of the institution, but in most cases, assume the site exists mainly to sell you a product or service.  Could be your biggest "waste of time" as a site's purpose to sell you something is not always obvious, at first.

How to search in a search engine:  Always surround your phrases in quotation marks and either combine your search terms with "AND" (capitalized) in between your terms or enter a + sign before them. 

“folk music” AND mexico

+”folk music” +mexico

Keep in mind that quotations and plus signs will often NOT work in Library Subscription Databases or the Library Catalog.