Websites: Searching Online

Limiting your website search to a specific domain name

One easy way to limit your web search and to help you find websites which are likely credible is to limit your search by what is called the top-level domain. Two restricted domains we often search first are .gov and .edu.

• The.gov domain is restricted to use only by government entitles from the USA. In general, we consider information on .gov sites to be credible.
• The.edu domain is restricted to use only by colleges and universities. In general, we consider  information on .edu sites to be credible if it was created by a college department, research institute, or an instructor.

Because we know where restricted domain websites like .gov and .edu came from, we can more easily decide if the information is credible or not. Many other common domains like .org and .com are not restricted; they can be created by any type of person or group, so we have to be more careful when deciding if the authors are experts or not.

For example, a search for LGBTQ AND law site:.gov will only bring results from government websites. If you search for LGBTQ AND civil rights site:.org  will mostly get results from non-profit organizations.

 Be aware that there are some uncommon exceptions to domain restrictions.  So, if you find a .gov website, for example, that you don't think is genuinely from a US government entity, check with a librarian or your instructor for advice, or don't use the site as a research source.