The internet is a vast ocean of information. The challenge is separating the valuable, trustworthy information from the spam. If you know how to find what you need, you can save yourself precious time and embarrassing factual errors.
These 9 websites that will help you do just that. Whether you need to research a paper, study for a test, or get help on a homework assignment, these sites are the best place to start.
1.) Google
I think it’s safe to say we’re all familiar with the Big G. Google is the king of search. With the rising popularity of niche content sites, it’s getting easier and easier to find exactly what you want by searching for it in Google.
Quick Tip 1: Memorize the most important Google operators and learn to use them efficiently. These extra commands are crucial for laser-targeting your search queries.
Quick Tip 2: Get the Google Toolbar for your browser (or just use Firefox.) It lets you search Google right from your browser, and saves you the added step of going to the Google homepage each time.
2.) Wikipedia
I don’t care what your instructors say, Wikipedia is great! If you want a brief overview of a topic and you want it fast, Wikipedia is second to none.
Wikipedia is a good textbook-replacer because it gives the same broad, over-arching view of a topic that any textbook can give you. Sometimes Wikipedia is better than your textbook. I’ve successfully used Wikipedia to study for a 300-level college psychology exam.
Quick Tip: Add “wiki” on the end of whatever you’re searching for in Google, and it will give you the Wikipedia page on that topic.
Quick Tip #2: The good Wikipedia pages cite their sources. When you are writing a research paper, instead of citing the Wikipedia page (which most instructors don’t allow,) cite the source that Wikipedia lists at the bottom of the article.
3.) Scholarpedia
Looks and feels like Wikipedia, but with a more “scholarly” atmosphere. It has less topics than Wikipedia, but goes more in depth into each subject.
Scholarpedia has more stringent posting standards, like only allowing experts to post, giving each article a “curator,” and requiring each article to be peer-reviewed. Use this site if you need a little more detail than the Wikipedia page provides.
4.) Yahoo Answers
Yahoo answers is a community where regular folks can ask and answer questions. Have a history question? Stuck on your math homework? Go to the Yahoo Answers and ask anything you want. I guarantee it will get answered; and fast too.
Quick tip: If you have a specific homework question you need answered, go to “Education & Reference” and then “Homework Help.” Then type up the whole question verbatim. I’ve seen people post Calculus and Trigonometry equations and get them solved fairly quickly!
5.) AllExperts
Like Yahoo answers, but with experts. It will take longer to receive replies, but they are usually more informative.
6.) About.com
About.com has thousands of articles on thousands of topics. It’s a little more reliable than Wikipedia because they pay free-lance experts to write for them.
Plus, About.com is old school. They have been around since 1996, so they have quite a library of good informative content built up.
7.) CliffsNotes
Good old CliffsNotes. They have saved my hide many times. CliffsNotes provide study guides and summaries of many novels. If a book typically part of a school curriculum, it’s probably in CliffsNotes.
CliffsNotes will help you analyze the main points of a book, understand the symbolism, and even give you a practice quiz. And it can be a big help when you…er….you know, maybe didn’t really read the book. 
8.) SparkNotes
Like Cliff’s notes, and just as good. Sometimes one site won’t have a book you need so you can use them both interchangeably.
9.) How Stuff Works
If you need to figure out “how something works,” go here. Their guides aren’t just on machines either. They give detailed explanations of science theories, political systems, historical events, and a lot more.
How Stuff Works is great if you’re in a class that’s heavy on theory, and you need things explained in normal every-day language.
Tony Howell is a psychology student at Southeast Missouri State. His popular and informative blog, PimpYourGrades.com, provides tips and advice for students who want to get better grades while spending less time on schoolwork.
Image by Paul Goyette
I think all you really need are Google and Wikipedia, to be honest.
I don’t understand why *anybody* uses Yahoo Answers – why not just Google your question? Or use Wikipedia? It’s all there if you know how to look.
And I think that’s it in a nutshell; even in these heady days, most people – I would estimate as many as 90 per cent of everyday folk – still don’t know how to use a search engine properly.
Yahoo answers can be useful for very specific questions you can’t find information on from Google. For example, a friend needed information about the way a certain shoe was supposed to fit – google searches answered “near” her question, but she wasn’t able to find any information specific to her situation. On YA, she was able to describe her situation and get opinions. Granted, they have to be taken with a grain of salt (or sometimes a salt lick
teach me
Hi Tony,
Thanks for the tips. I had not heard of “Scholarpedia” before. I had used the others before. “How Stuff Works” used to be really good. Then it went through a stage of having more ads than content. Now it seems to have found a good balance and is a great site for young and old alike.
Geoff
Regarding Yahoo Answers:
If all you want is the answer, are you really learning anything? Tutor.com Direct’s tutors take you step-by-step through the problem so that you understand it.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should let you know I am a client services manager at Tutor.com. I have worked here for a number of years, and can attest to the quality of this company. I have a special promotion code which I am happy to share, which will give you 50 minutes for free: http://www.tutor.com/vip235.
Your “Google operators” link will link to admin page of the blog.
Now, that out of the way…Thanks a lot.
I wasn’t aware of scholarpedia,either.
I have about 20 search engine plug-ins on my firefox and i use about half of them very frequently. Some are very spesific like certain dictionaries and databases.
Sometimes expert or anectodal knowledge is not easily found on broad-rangers, that’s when spesific databeses, wiki’s etc. come in handy.
Thanks Tony, that was really useful!
Wikipedia is a great place to FIND sources, but you should definitely track down the source yourself and at least skim through find the fact that you are going to be using—if for no other reason than to make sure that whatever anonymous idiot put the fact onto the Wikipedia article got it right!
Citing a source that YOU have not read is not considered academically honest. (Though I’m not saying that it’s not a shortcut that researchers often take.)
—One of those annoying “instructors.”
Great picks. I prefer using Google scholar ever given it a go?
Roman,
Thanks.
I haven’t used Google Scholar too much since my college provides free access to a bunch of journal databases, but it does seem like it could be another useful tool.
Thanks. I wasn’t aware of Scholarpedia. I’ll have to check it out in the future.
I love how some experts say that Wikipedia contains mistakes. Heck, encyclopedias contain mistakes too. The bottom line is that Wikipedia has enough sets of eyeballs looking everything over such that lots of things wind up getting corrected.
Personally, I love all the research materials we have available right at our fingertips. It makes it so much easier to write my books and do my blogging.
Stanley F. Bronstein
MrAchievement
Attorney, CPA, Author & Speaker
Official Guide to Achievement on SelfGrowth.com
I think Wikipedia and How stuff works are 2 incredible websites which no other website can beat. I can’t imagine my day without visiting wikipedia at least once.
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None of these sources are acceptable in a research paper… unless you find something with more credibility through Google Scholar.
As a business professional, I can’t live without LinkedIn. If you want to get information and ideas about business related questions and issues it is a fantastic resource. I also think that the ability to learn about the background and “resume” of the person who submitted the information is critical. Thanks for the list!
those are definitely great links, thank you
I find it sad so many people think Wikipedia
will give the accurate or correct answers.
I will stick with research sources with a bit more credibility, thanks.
We have enough MIS-information already,
thanks to the media, including the internet.
Google is kind of in a category of it’s own. It’s a search engine, and so indexes all the other sites. It probably searches those sites better than their own searches.