The Web has become the largest and most accessible “library” in the world. Its “collection” includes Web pages, blogs, reviews, social-networking sites, magazine and journal articles, books, music, photos, and video, among many other items. To search this collection of sources, you can use a wide range of Web search sites.

Like library catalogs and databases, Web search sites help you locate information quickly and easily. Keep in mind, however, that the sources found through Web search sites have not been carefully selected by librarians and editors, as is typically the case with the sources found through library catalogs and databases. Instead, sources found on the Web can be uneven in quality, ranging from peer-reviewed articles in scholarly journals to home pages created by eighth graders.