The tools have changed, but the concepts remain the same. Librarians add value to resources by locating, evaluating, and providing access. Examples are Internet Reviews in College and Research Libraries News, Databases in Reference and User Services Quarterly, and Choice, which integrates print and electronic media. Consequently, our librarians search for and evaluate sites. The selector must look at these issues in addition to the usual evaluation of authority, timeliness, reliability, usability, depth, breadth, etc.
Institutional policies can guide decisions.
Searching for virtual resources requires thinking globally. Librarians cannot rely on a few library review sources or a book approval vendor. There is no substitute for actively searching for resources, which means spending time online trying different strategies in different search engines. The same search in Google, Ask Jeeves and AltaVista will result in very different results. For example, I recently ran a search for Yellowstone science and checked a dozen engines for relevancy on scientific issues in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.