**A Guide to Free Internet Tutorials on the Web**:

Stephen Perry, IRO, PAS Buenos Aires.

**Updated** November 6, 2003

**Part I: Internet Tutorials from U.S Sources (Universities, Academic
Organizations, Public Libraries, Foundations, etc.)**

1.  **Virtual Chase Internet Tutorials**: "*The Skill of the Hunt:
    Effective Research Strategies for Finding Information on the Web*."
    <http://www.virtualchase.com/articles/skill.html> and *Virtual Chase
    Research Guides for Using the* *Internet Effectively*:
    <http://virtualchase.com/howto/index.html> Both sets of tutorials
    come from the highly esteemed Virtual Chase, a web site used by
    information professionals around the world. The Research Guides
    includes how to find information on "*Companies"; "Legal Research";*
    "*People Finder"; "Search Engines"; "How to Find Federal and State
    Statutes Online";* "*How to* *Find Federal Legislation by Topic";
    "Finding Statistics Online"; "How to find a Treaty Ratified by* *the
    U.S."; and "U.S. Government Web Sites as Starting Points."* Virtual
    Chase also has an online article on "*Teaching Internet Research
    Skills"* at <http://www.virtualchase.com/researchskills>

2.  **SUNY (State University of New York) at ALBANY LIBRARIES. Internet
    Tutorials.** <http://library.albany.edu/internet/> Many
    professionals view these set of free tutorials as the best yet
    available on the Web. Designed for the students, professors and
    staff at SUNY Albany, but these professional, value added handouts
    are useful for anyone. Web Site is divided into 5 separate sections:

# Section I: Internet Tutorials: "*Using and Searching the Web,"* "*A Basic Guide to the Internet*," "*How to Connect to the Internet*," *Understanding the World Wide Web*."

> **Section II: Research Guides:** *"Checklist of Internet Research
> Tips," "Conducting Research on the Internet,"* and *"Evaluating
> Internet Resources."*
>
> **Section III:** **Search Engines, Subject Directories and the Deep
> Web**. *"Getting Started: Selecting a Tool for your Search," "Boolean
> Searching on the Internet," "The Deep Web," "How to Search a Search
> Engine Effectively," "Searching the Internet: Recommended Sites and
> Search Tools,"* and *"Second Generation Searching on the Web."*
>
> **Section IV:** **Browsers***. "Internet Explorer,"* and *"Lynx."*
>
> **Section V: Software Training:** *"How to Capture a Graphic on the
> Web onto a Diskette," "How to use WS_FTP," (*Updated August 2003)

3.  **Beginners Central** covers basic Internet operations, such as
    email, ftp, user groups, downloading, how to Post messages, etc.
    Only relevant to those IRC FSNS who truly do need the basics.
    Concise and easy to read instructions. The Web Site is available at:
    <http://northernwebs.com/bc>

4.  **Marylaine Block's** presentations and handouts on the Internet
    (<http://marylaine.com/handouts.html>) includes two presentations:
    one on Basic Internet Searching and the other covering Advanced
    Internet Searching. This Web site also offers specific presentations
    on Business Reference Resources on the net, Internet Trends
    Affecting Librarians and Health/Medical Resources. Nice set of
    tutorials from an accomplished librarian. Her presentations give a
    sense of how to organize materials in a formal training workshop,
    especially for IRCs that haven't done many formal presentations.

5.  **Netsquirrel.com** (Patrick Crispen) "Internet, PC and Classroom
    resources" Includes the following modules: "Computer Care 101:
    Keeping your Computer Healthy," "Computer Care 102: Top 10
    Troubleshooting Tips and Tricks," "Designing Online Communities,"
    "How Internet Filters Work," "Google 101---Stop Searching and Start
    Finding," "Google 201: Advanced Googology," "Guidelines for Good Web
    Design," "Students as Teachers of Technology," "Web Page Design,
    Parts 1 and 2,"and "The Tour bus Guide to the Most Useful Sites in
    the World (Updated for 2003)"
    ([http://netsquirrel.com](http://netsquirrel.com/))

6.  **AARP: Learn the Internet**
    (<http://www.aarp.org/learninternet/basic_browsing>) Presents a very
    basic series of instruction tutorials, only appropriate for FSNs who
    function at the most basic level only. Among the tutorials offered
    at the AARP Web Site are: ""Basic Browsing Tutorial," "Understanding
    the Basics," "Title, Menu and Tool Bars," "Addresses and Address
    Bar," "Navigating Web Pages and Web Sites," "Printing," "Finding
    Things," and "Handling Common Problems."

> **The AARP Guide** also includes very practical "How To" Guides. These
> include:
>
> "Surviving Computer Freeze," "How to Use a Word Processor," "Firewalls
> Explained," "How to Work with Function Keys," "In-Depth Explanation of
> Cookies," "How to Use a Search Engine," "How to Download Files."
>
> Again this site is aimed at those with very low level to nonexistent
> skills. I feel hesitant in recommending the site: it may be useful
> strictly for pedagogical reasons, to give IRCs ideas on how to present
> and teach basic skills. I truly doubt that we would ever hire FSNs
> with no computer experience. If however, this is the case, the AARP
> guide is excellent in portraying the sheer basics in very simple yet
> commanding language.

7.  **University of California at Berkeley's Class Handouts on "Finding
    Information on the Internet, A Tutorial**." Updated June 2003.
    Specific Tutorials include: "*Using Search Engines*," "*Search
    Strategies: Using Directory Information with hands-on exercises*," "
    *Research Quality* *Web Searching: How to Insure Results*," "and
    "*Evaluating Web Pages*."
    <http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Handouts.html>

8.  **Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries**. "Getting Started
    with your Research." Covers the following topics in-depth
    "Government Sources," "Internet Sites," "Evaluating your Research."
    <http://www.library.vcu.edu/help/getstarted.html>

9.  **Baylor University Libraries**. "Library Instruction Tutorials."
    Tutorials include: "Web Site Evaluation Criteria for Libraries,"
    "General Guides to Research," "Subject-Specific Guides,"
    "Interactive Tutorials," "Guides to the Internet and Evaluation of
    Resources," "Designing Tutorials."
    <http://www3.baylor.edu/LIRT/lirtproj.html>

10. Ohio State University Libraries, **NET-TUTOR**.
    <http://gteway.lib.ohio-state.edu/tutor/>

> Purpose of site is to motivate and train users to actively evaluate
> web sites in order to retrieve quality information. Divided into 3
> areas:
>
> **TOOLS**: "*Getting Started on the Web*," "*E-MAIL Basics*," "*Online
> Discussion Groups*."
>
> **RESEARCH TECHNIQUES**: "*Smart Research Strategies*," "*Finding
> Articles*," "*Evaluating Web Sites*," "*Citing 'Net Resources*."
>
> **SPECIAL TOPICS**: "*Careers and Employment*," "*Historical
> Research*," "*News Sources*."

11. **Texas Information Literacy Tutorial**:
    <http://tilt.lib.utsystem.edu/nf/intro/internet.htm>

> Can bypass the registration procedure by registering as a Guest User.
> Tutorial presents excellent research strategies for the beginning
> student. Students select a topic and a self-paced tutorial pops up
> demonstrating how to select and evaluate the best resources for that
> topic. Several Texas libraries participated in the creation of this
> literacy tutorial.

12. **Web Junction.** <http://webjunction.org/do/Navigation?category=78>
    Web Junction presents a series of basic handouts on a variety of
    Internet functions, such as E-MAIL and browsing. Specific chapters
    include: "Top Web Resources," "Top Eight Internet Tips," "Copying
    Favorites and Bookmarks to another Computer," "Glossary of Internet
    Terms," "Resources for Beginners," and "Web Site Evaluation." All
    handouts are updated yearly. Handouts are professional and
    informative.

13. **Ithaca University Libraries. A Guide to Thinking Critically**
    about what you see on the World Wide Web.
    <http://www.ithaca.edu/library/Training/hott.html> A wonderful guide
    to how to evaluate web pages and how to think critically about them.
    Very useful for pedagogical purposes in terms of teaching classes
    how to evaluate web sources. Professional quality handouts on this
    site.

14. **Internet 101**. <http://www.internet101.org/internet101.html>
    Provides focused lessons on learning how to use the Internet most
    effectively. Includes such topics as: "*Getting Started*," "*Safe
    Surfing*," "*Viruses*," *Browsers*," "*Searching and Search
    Engines*," "*Locating Software*," "*News Groups*," and "*File
    Sharing*."

15. **Santa Cruz (California) Public Library Internet Tutorials.**
    <http://www.santacruzpl.org/tutorials/index.shtml> Includes New User
    Tutorials and Internet Explorer 5.0 with a trackball (also available
    in Spanish) and Netscape 4.7 with a Mouse (also available in
    Spanish.) The bulk of their free tutorials are available in the
    Section labeled "Searching for Information on the Web." It contains
    "*Evaluating Internet Resources*" (from the Library at the
    University of Maryland,) "*Search Engine Showdown*," "*Keyword
    Search Tools"* (from Cabrillo College Library,) "*Savvy Searching*"
    (from the Santa Cruz Public Library,) "*Search Engine* *Glossary*"
    (from Search Engine Watch,) and "*Search Engine Reviews"* (from
    Search Engine Watch.)

16. **ACRL Guide to the Internet: Subject Specific Sources of
    Information**. ACRL's monthly Internet Subject Guides in
    [College]{.underline} [and Research News]{.underline} offers the
    best Internet sites in a variety of topics of interest to IRCs.
    Includes biographies, patents and trademarks, Government
    Information, Human Rights on the Internet, Library Assessment, Maps
    and Mapping Resources and U.S. History, among many others. Each
    article is prefaced by an introduction giving an overview and
    evaluation of the best sites. Each site chosen includes a complete
    annotation. These are an excellent series of guides.
    <http://www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu/ACRL/Publications/College_and_Research_Libraries_News/Internet_Resources.htm>

## PART II: Free Internet Tutorials from Non U.S. Sources

1.  **The BUBL Site** has a series of Internet training tutorials at
    <http://link.bubl.ac.uk/ISC335/> The BUBL site, while hosted in the
    UK, does link to a high percentage (roughly 50 percent) of US
    materials. BUBL for example links to the Internet tutorials
    maintained by SUNY Albany. It is a convenient list of Internet
    Education and Training materials.

2.  **RDN Virtual Training Kit** is another UK hosted site, but again
    links to a substantial amount of US materials. This is one of the
    most professional training sites I have discovered -- the site
    offers a very sophisticated sense of how to use the Internet
    effectively in a variety of subject fields. The screen shots in this
    professional tutorial presents for the first time user a good flow
    in conveying not only the best Internet sites, but more than that,
    discussing exactly why these sites are important. Evaluation of Web
    sites is also built in each tutorial. The RDN Virtual Training Suite
    is excellent for those who will be teaching Internet resources in a
    certain area and want to know how to present the material in the
    most effective way. The free online tutorials are designed to help
    students and lecturers improve their Internet information literacy
    and IT skills. Of most interest to IRCs and IROs would be Internet
    tutorials for Economists, Political Scientists, Government, Lawyers,
    Social Research Methods, Social Statistics, and Women's Studies.
    View the Web Site at:
    [http://www.vts.rdn.ac.uk](http://www.vts.rdn.ac.uk/)

3.  Researcher's Companion from the University of Surrey, UK:
    <http://www.federalsurrey.ac.uk/researcherscompanion/> Includes
    information on how to Evaluate Web Sites and how to look for
    materials in a traditional library.

> **PART III: SUBJECT- SPECIFIC TUTORIALS:**
>
> **BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS:**
>
> **1. Rutgers University Business
> Guides**:<http://www.newarkwww.rutgers.edu/guides/business/index>
> Includes subject specific tutorials on: "*Business Research
> Strategies," "Business Plan Research," "Product Research/Company
> Research," "Financial Analysis Research," "International Business
> Research."*

2.  **Deb Flanagan's Researching Companies Online**.
    <http://home.sprintmail.com/~debflanagan/> Contains the following
    highly specific but excellent tutorials: "*Locate High-Level
    Company* *Information*," "*Identify Telephone Numbers and
    Addresses*," "*Locate Company Home Pages*," "*Research Company
    Financial Information*," "*Learn about an Industry*," "*Use Business
    and* *Financial Meta-Sites*," "*Locate Professional Associations*,"
    "*Find Conferences and Seminars*," "*Find Sales Prospects*,"
    "*Research Non-Profit organizations*," "*Doing International
    Business* *Research*." These tutorials are all highly professional,
    recently updated and come from a business librarian who is quite
    knowledgeable about business and financial resources.

3.  **GLOBAL EDGE**: Michigan State University Resources for Business
    and Finance.
    <http://globaledge.msu.edu/ibrd/busremain.asp?ResourceCategoryID=12>

Includes basic Trade Desk Tutorials, guides to locating Trade
Information, Global Business and Finance Resources, and imports and
exports.

4.  **International Economics Study Center**.
    [http://internationalecon.com](http://internationalecon.com/) Covers
    tutorials on International Trade, International Finance, and
    Economics. Includes syllabi from instructors. Many of the syllabi
    come from George Washington University. Includes course notes on
    International Finance Theory and Policy. Offers many tutorials on
    international issues relating to trade. The current newsroom is
    priceless: e.g. U.S. vs. European positions on bananas, and latest
    news from the WTO. Tutorials on International Trade and
    International Finance are excellent as they give students an
    intellectual background on the issues involved, for a value added
    web site.

> **CRIMINAL JUSTICE**:
>
> **1. Old Dominion University Libraries**. "Using Information Resources
> in Criminal Justice."
> <http://www.lib.odu.edu/research/tutorials/cjmodule/index.htm>
> (Includes information on Law and Legislation as well as how to find
> criminal justice statistics.")
>
> **LAW AND LEGAL RESEARCH:**

1.  **Lyonette Louis-Jacques** **Legal Guides**. Ms. Jacques is a
    professional law librarian at the **University of Chicago Law
    Library**, and provides an excellent and very professional series of
    Internet guides and tutorials to the legal research process. These
    tutorials are found at:
    <http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/law/resguide.html>. These guides
    include how to find International and Comparative Law.

2.  The University of Virginia's School of Law also provides another
    useful series of links to U.S. Legal Research, especially the steps
    for effective legal research, at their web site:
    <http://www.law.virginia.edu/nutshell>

**3. Legal Information: LLRX (Law Librarians Research Exchange)**
[http://www.llrx.com](http://www.llrx.com/)

> LLRX some of the best research guides on the Web, including
> authoritative information, written by law Librarians on how to find US
> and International Law. Among the specific articles are: "*Update to a
> Guide to the U.S. Federal Legal System*," and "*Zimmerman's Research
> Guide: An* *Online Encyclopedia for Legal Researchers*." On the left
> hand column of the Web Page is a section labeled "Resource Centers."
> In the Resource Center section, one finds: "*Comparative and* *Foreign
> Law Guides*," "*International Law Guides*," *Presentations and
> Training*," "*State and* *Federal Legislation*" and "*Trends and
> Developments in Legal Research"* (written July 21, 2003.)
>
> 4\. Library of Congress: <http://www.loc.gov/law/guide/us.html> Good
> set of free legal tutorials covering the Constitution, the States and
> the Executive, Judicial and Legislative Branches.

5.  The Georgetown Library Resource Guides, covering a range of legal
    research topics\
    <http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/lib/guides/>[researchguideshomepage.htm](http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/lib/guides/researchguideshomepage.htm)

6.  **The Seven Commandments of Highly Effective Web Searching**, Cindy
    Carlson\
    <http://www.llrx.com/columns/notes54.htm>

7.  **The Legal Research Teach In**
    <http://www.aallnet.org/sis/ripssis/teach_in.htm> (several free
    materials available at this site)

8.  **Law Scout** <http://lawscout.uakron.edu/> Provides subject access
    to all the pathfinders and guides of over 130 law schools and other
    institutions.

###  RSS

> RSS Workshop: Publish and Syndicate Your News to the Web "In this
> workshop you\'ll learn how to create, validate, parse, publish, and
> syndicate your own RSS news channel.\" Includes an overview of the RSS
> (rich site summary) protocol, example sites and codes, and links to
> related resources. <http://gils.utah.gov/rss/>

#### WEB SITE CONSTRUCTION

WebDesignHelper

> <http://www.WebDesignHelper.co.uk/> A free resource that features
> numerous templates, Web graphics, fonts, and a number of other useful
> items that can be used to create a complete Web site. The template
> section alone contains 129 free full-page templates, along with 21
> horizontal menus, 26 vertical menus, and 23 table templates. The Web
> graphics and fonts section contains 144 fonts, 120 icons (with such
> popular images as tables, graphs, and charts), 67 types of arrows, and
> 128 buttons. For users with queries, an online forum is also available
> where users can submit and read questions. Lastly, there is an area
> where advanced users can submit their own contributions for inclusion
> on the site.
>
> **PART IV: CONTINUING EDUCATION ON THE INTERNET:** Many valuable
> Internet Tutorials are Guides are hidden in general continuing
> education sites.
>
> 1\. The two best of these sites is the University of Texas at Austin'
> s World Lecture Hall, available at:
> <http://www.utexas.edu/world/lecture/>
>
> To use the site, click on Browse by Area first. You will see a radio
> box labeled "Choose an Area." Using the arrow, choose Library and
> Information Science. Here you will find many Internet tutorials, many
> with complete course syllabi from some of the best Library Schools in
> the United States. Of course, there are many other courses available
> in this Web Site, such as African American Studies, Journalism,
> Environmental Science, Political Science, among many others. Although
> hosted by the University of Texas at Austin, the continuing education
> courses come from universities and colleges all over the U.S.

2.  The second (and very impressive) site for Continuing Education is
    provided by **MIT**, the **Massachusetts Institute of Technology**.
    The site is available at:
    [http://www.ocw.mit.edu](http://www.ocw.mit.edu/) Courses range from
    Anthropology to Urban Studies and Planning. Each course module
    includes Readings, Lecture notes from the professor, assignments and
    Related Resources, giving the best Internet Resources in a
    particular subject area, already pre-evaluated by the course
    professor as being "the best in the business."

3.  Free Library and Information Science Courses offered over the
    Internet from the University at Buffalo (SUNY- BUFFALO):
    <http://informatics.buffalo.edu/faculty/robinson/ce/descriptions.htm>

**PART V: HOW TO FIND QUALITY INFORMATION ON THE WEB**:

Please use these peer-reviewed search engines for locating quality
information on the Internet.

1.  **Librarian's Index to the Internet**
    ([http://lii.org](http://lii.org/)) Arranged by Subject Content.
    Contains a Search Window for searching of specific terms. Sites are
    already evaluated as being the best by professional librarians
    working with subject experts in a variety of fields.

2.  **INFOMINE (University of California at Riverside)** Presents one
    attempt to catalog the Web. Available at:
    [http://infomine.ucr.edu](http://infomine.ucr.edu/)

3.  **AcademicInfo: Your Gateway to Quality Educational Resources.
    ([http://academicinfo.com](http://academicinfo.com/)) Web Site
    contains subject gateways, an extensive virtual reference desk and
    an extensive "In the News" section.**

4.  **Internet Public Library's Pathfinders:
    <http://www.ipl.org/div/pf/>**

5.  **Internet Resources Newsletter: Monthly Newsletter giving quality
    sites:** <http://www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/irn108/irn108.html>

6.  **Pinake**s: a subject gateway
    <http://www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/pinakes/pinakes.html> is a useful
    site providing access to over 50 major, high-quality subject
    gateways on a wide range of academic subjects. One can use Pinakes
    to find gateways to the best Internet resources on most subjects.

> Also, the **SLA PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WEB SITE** at
> <http://www.sla.org/chapter/ctor/toolbox/resource/index.html> has a
> link to Internet Tutorials and Search Engines (Tutorials and
> Comparative Evaluations.)

7.  
8.  

**Stephen Perry, IRO, PAS Buenos Aires**

[**PerryS@state.gov**](mailto:PerryS@state.gov)

**54-11-5777-4832**