WWW as research source

[Kelly Plamp <kellysue -at- KELLY-SUE -dot- COM>]

Hi - need to put my two cents in.

Some discussion has been presented regarding whether WWW pages offer a credible or accurate source of information.

I recently edited a masters paper for a nurse practitioner that used the WWW in exactly the appropriate way, IMHO.

The topic was weight gain during menopause, and the theme was a holistic approach to the causes. The author cited numerous journals and books on the topic, and had two web sites - both were sponsored by hospitals and the information on the web pages themselves were authored by experts in their fields.

One of the sites merely published an article that was also published in a journal, so I cited the journal in which it was published instead of the web page. I knew this because the web page had a full citation of the article and where it came from. That way future readers will be able to find the information in the event the web page has changed.

The second one I did this way
        Author, Name. (1997) Title of the web page. Internet: World Wide Web site. Date and time. http://www.xxx.yyy.zzz

Notice I didn't put a period at the end of the url so readers won't think it's part of the url if they try to find the page.

I believe this is the way the WWW is meant to be used! I too would not credit a work that cited *all* WWW pages, just as I wouldn't credit a work that used *all* the same book or author!

Best regards,
Kelly Plamp
Computer Management Technologies

	http://www.documentation.com/, or http://www.dejanews.com/