In conducting research in academic disciplines it is important to identify the best sources in which to seek information. of online The resources provided by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries are provided for academic scholarly research so they may be trusted to provide useful information.
There is a vast amount information accessible via search engines. One of the most important aspects of research on the web, not provided by the Libraries, is to determine the nature of the source. Is the source intended for a popular or academic audience? Does the source contain unbiased and useful research content?
For a basic introduction to research the Libraires' has this guide:
University Libraries' Virtual Tutorials
The University of Southern Maine provides an excellent checklist for evaluating online resources":
https://usm.maine.edu/library/checklist-evaluating-web-resources
For a more complete list, the Library of Congress lists many sources for information evaluation:
https://www.loc.gov/rr/business/beonline/selectbib.html
Scholarly vs. Popular sources
A scholarly publication contains content written by experts in a particular field and the content is reviewed by an editorial board consisting of other experts in the field. One of many examples of a scholarly publication in engineering is the Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering published by the American Society of Civil Engineering.
A magazine geared more toward the general public is Popular Science
Engineering trade publications are often produced by a commercial or society publisher and written for a more general audience than a scholarly journal. Trade publications may or may not contain peer-reviewed content. An example of a trade publication is Cost Engineering