When it comes to selecting a web site to use in your research, choose wisely. The number one complaint of faculty when reading student written papers, is not your writing itself; it is the sources you selected to back up the claims you make in your papers.
Google is a wonderful thing. It searches the web, also a wonderful thing.
But it isn't always so wonderful when you're doing research. It helps to understand what's out there and what isn't.
What's out there: Some really great things--information from government agencies, think tanks, museums, and educational institutions. Sometimes, pages from students like you, or like your little brother or sister. Sometimes from congressional aides who plant wrong information on a competitors page on Wikipedia (thankfully, Wikipedia is making it harder for that to happen). Or policy information from a group that advocates one position or another over looking at a position without bias. With no more context than simply "on the web," it's hard to tell good information from bad.
What isn't: Basically, most scholarly and professional journals, which means, basically, most of what your professors require you to use for your research. These are for-fee publications. However, you have access to them while you're a student here at Hamline via our databases.
Bottom line: It helps to know where to start when you're looking for information. That will determine where you end up. If you start with Google, you could end up citing a page by a high school student (this has happened). If you start at the Bush Library website, you will find books and articles by scholars, from respected databases and publishers. On the Research Guides pages, you will find hand-picked websites to support research for your course, from the Congressional Research Service and Government Accountability Office to The Beat: The News Blog of Comics Culture.
Good Website to Help You Find Other Good Websites: