The Internet is a terrific resource. It contains hundreds of web sites dedicated to thousands of topics. With so many sites, it is easy to get lost. Knowing the types of search tools available and mastering some general search tips can make your search more profitable.

Use caution when searching the web, though. Anybody with access to the Internet can post web sites about topics that interest them. These sites are not always accurate. Therefore, it also is a good idea to learn how to evaluate web sites. The Purdue University Library system's Core+ Tutorial provides helpful guidelines for evaluating sources. Purdue's OWL has a mini-tutorial on evaluating sources that includes evaluating Internet sources. There's also a great interactive tutorial on being an Internet detective on another site that you can visit if you want to work more on evaluating Internet sources.

Date Added: Jan 22, 2009 Hits: 0 Rating: 0.00 Votes: 0

There is a lot of information on the Internet, including a lot of resources about writing. However, sometimes it's hard to find what you're looking for. Use the resources in this section to help you learn more about searching the Internet for information and use our collections of writing-related resources for more information about writing. If you're a student (or an instructor) in Introductory Composition at Purdue (ICaP), you can find lots of resources on their web pages as well.

Date Added: Jan 22, 2009 Hits: 0 Rating: 0.00 Votes: 0

Answers.com - the ultimate answer engine, with quick accurate dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia, bios, tech terms, news, sports, weather, and much more.

Date Added: Nov 26, 2007 Hits: 0 Rating: 0.00 Votes: 0

Search online reference materials - American Heritage Dictionary, Columbia Encyclopedia, Roget's Thesaurus, World Factbook, Spanish to English Dictionary, Quotations, Shakespeare's Works, Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body, and conversion calculators on Yahoo! Education.

Date Added: Dec 10, 2008 Hits: 0 Rating: 0.00 Votes: 0

Cultural and historical reasons have led to a highly decentralized and diversified education system in the American Republic. There are no federal or national institutions save for the military academies, and within most states control of local school districts is devolved to a locally elected school board of non-professionals. Thus, the exact methods, curricula, standards, and practices in education vary from district to district and from state to state.

Elementary and secondary education is funded by state or local governments and free to the student; slightly more than 11% of the national student population is enrolled in private education, which range from independent boarding schools to parochial schools operated by Catholic dioceses and orders to schools operated by for-profit consortia. A growing number of students are also home-schooled by their families or private tutors.

In most states, education begins at age 5, when children are enrolled in kindergarten. Kindergarten is followed by first grade and then four or five more years of elementary school. After elementary education, students enroll in so-called middle school or junior high school, which encompasses grades 6-8, 7-8, or 7-9 depending on the local practice. High school, i.e. senior high school follows for grades 9-12 or 10-12 depending on the local practice. The high school years are also referred to as freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years.

Starting in 2002, students are required to take periodic standardized achievement tests to be used to rate their performance and that of their schools and districts. K-12 education reformers have succeeded in different areas at creating charter schools, which release a school from certain regulations under a contract to exceed performance; magnet schools, which draw students from a wide area to focus on a particular subject; and school choice programs, in which parents are permitted to select the school their child will attend.

During the eleventh or twelfth grades, students intending to pursue higher education apply to postsecondary institutions and take a battery of national examinations known by their initials, such as PSAT/NMSQT, SAT/SAT II, ACT, ASVAB, ELPT, AP, CLEP, and IB. For those who do not, education is typically compulsory between the ages of 6 or 7 and 16. Those without a high school diploma can complete a course known as the GED as adults, which is considered equivalent.

Most students continue to post-secondary education, generally referred to as college (i.e. the stage of education, regardless of whether the institution is named a "college," "university," or "institute"). All states sponsor subsidized universities or specialized college systems, and there exist a substantial number of private institutions. The federal government sponsors a number of financial aid programs for higher education in the form of loans, grants, work-study, community service grant, and military service grant programs.

In the case of a junior college or community college, the student enrolls in a two-year proram resulting in an associate's degree, usually resulting in certification in a career field. Larger colleges and universities grant bachelor's degrees (e.g. A.B., B.S.) after a 4-year program, although some specialized degrees (e.g. B.Arch, B.F.A.) are stipulated to be 5-year programs.

Post-graduate education for masters, doctorate, or professional degrees such as the M.D., J.D., or Ph.D. is supported by the university systems and in some cases by specialized institutions. Continuing education programs are sponsored by many institutions, and cooperative extension programs are required of "land grant" and "sea grant" universities which received land or funding from the federal government at their founding.

The U.S. claims a literacy rate exceeding 97%.

Date Added: Dec 5, 2007 Hits: 0 Rating: 0.00 Votes: 0

Use these tools to search the Web for information, or browse some directories that categorize the Web by topic. Since each search tool will most likely yield different results, try a couple of them out. If you've never used a search engine before, you might want to go through our explanations and tutorials about search engines, or try some additional tutorials at Search Engine Watch. There's also a great interactive tutorial on being an Internet detective that you might like to try.

For a page which brings together many different search engines and other information retrieval devices like encyclopedias, Bible searches and Shakespeare listings, see Ted Slater's Search Engine Collection. Search Engine Watch also has a collection of search engines organized by category.

Date Added: Jan 22, 2009 Hits: 0 Rating: 0.00 Votes: 0

The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.

Date Added: Jan 22, 2009 Hits: 0 Rating: 0.00 Votes: 0

Records relating to a particular country or region or location. Generally these are preserved in official repositories and will contain records of the activities of governing bodies, among other deposited records.

Date Added: Dec 8, 2007 Hits: 0 Rating: 0.00 Votes: 0

Repositories of records generated by national, state or local government in the US, which may also contain archives deposited by other bodies or individuals.

Date Added: Dec 8, 2007 Hits: 0 Rating: 0.00 Votes: 0

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, is a leading provider of learning and knowledge products. We're proud to be one of the world's most trusted sources of information on every topic imaginable - from the origins of the universe to current events and everything in between.

Explore the updated online encyclopedia from Encyclopaedia Britannica with hundreds of thousands of articles, biographies, videos and photos along with access to the Britannica Student Encyclopedia, Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, and Merriam-Webster's Dictionary & Thesaurus.

Date Added: Dec 16, 2007 Hits: 0 Rating: 0.00 Votes: 0