FOCUS ON LIBRARY ELECTRONIC RESOURCES: WEBCAT CATALOG INCLUDES QUALITY WEB SITES

By Laura Hiatt-Smith, Public Services Librarian

As is commonly known, the Internet is crammed with information, some of it good and some of it bad. To help facilitate research projects and access to good information, Shake Library catalogs appropriate websites using the same criteria used for book-buying. Most of these websites are free to access but there are others that are supplements to VU’s online database subscriptions. In the case of the latter, these are subject to the same access procedures and policies as the database the website supports.

To find cataloged websites go to vinu.edu and click on the library icon. In the left hand-column click on the link marked Find Books and then click on the link to VU’s Webcat. Once the basic search box comes up, do a keyword search for ‘internet homepage’.



This keyword search will bring search results that include the entire list of websites that the VU librarians have cataloged. To find a website on a specific topic, it is best to click on the ‘Advanced’ search tab and then proceed to do a keyword anywhere search of internet homepage AND [topic of your choice]. This will narrow the search results to include only those websites that specifically deal with the research topic that you are interested in.

Websites are always being added to the collection so the list will continue to grow. Also, if you know of a website that would be a good addition to the catalog, contact your liaison librarian!