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Before you begin searching the internet get an idea of the type of content that is available to you  (is it educational, governmental, medical, shopping etc.) Most times when you search, you never think to thoroughly examine the internet addresss of web sites you find. Each site has a unique address which is called Universal Resource Locator (URL). Each part of the URL represents information about a web site.

A Sample URL: The George T. Potter Library http://library.ramapo.edu

 Parts of the URL and there Meaning:

• http:// - hypertext transfer protocol, referes to the format used to transfer and deal with information.
• www - world wide web
• library - host server
• Ramapo - server location

Top Level Domain Names:

• .edu - Educational Institution
• .gov - U.S. Government
• .org - Non-profit Organization
• .com - Commerical Enterprise
• .net - Networks, Internet Services Provider
• .mil - U. S. Military

See, Evaluating Websites on the library's homepage http://library.ramapo.edu under "Reference Assistance"

Sample Hoax Websites:

• The WhiteHouse http://whiteHouse.org
• RYT Hospital, Dwayne Medical Center http://malepregnancy.com

Sample Legitimate, Hoax and Bad Websites for Further Exploration:

• The Good, The Bad and the Ugly: or Why It's a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Sources, New Mexico State University http://lib.nmusu.edu/instruction/eval.html

                                          Adapted from University of California, Berkeley & New Mexico State University

                                           Shirley Knight, sknight@ramapo.edu,Reference Librarian, Library Liaison, FYS

                                                                                        Geroge T. Potter Library     

                                                                                        revised March 2007