The Internet

Online Subscription Databases

•  is a collection of inter-connected computer networks around the world which provides access to many different types of information;

• includes the World Wide Web (www or just web) which is a part of the Internet—the part we use most frequently;

• is open to everyone—those who want to search for information on the web and those who want to put information on the web;

• includes material that can be published by anyone with access to a web server;

• includes websites whose main purpose is entertainment, persuasion, or academic research;

• includes the sites of individuals or groups who have an agenda (are trying to sway opinion), and some intentionally give out false information;

• is a "grab bag" of information – some of what you get will be unreliable and biased and some will be accurate and balanced.

• are provided to you free as a student of the GECDSB;

• are part of what is called the hidden web—in this case it is hidden unless you subscribe to it;

• include thousands of full-text magazines, scholarly journals, newspapers, electronic books, and reference sources.

• are library resources, published by reputable publishers – which we are accessed over the web rather than in paper format;

• are searched using a web browser, but are not part of the "open" web. If your teacher states that you can only use one web source, the databases should not count as that web source.