Sites selected for the Virtual Reference Shelf reflect the interests and needs of WSU faculty and students and were selected for working reference librarians in an academic library answering actual questions. Selections have been reviewed by an editorial review board comprised of members from the Library Instruction/Reference Working Group. The Virtual Reference Shelf will be reviewed twice a year in May and November.
Subjects typically handled by a public library such as antiques, collectibles, or genealogy are not covered here. As with print reference books, the editorial review board has taken special care to select materials that are reliable, accurate, accessible, and timely.
Special Considerations
- Whenever possible, this collection includes sites that offer "ready-reference" answers to questions instead of general information sites that users could find using an iternet search engine.
- The collection includes subscription databases licenced for WSU Libraries'
use, indicated with a
icon. Though some sites may request registration,
pages that require users to subscribe for a fee were deliberately excluded
from this collection. Most other sources are absoluely free and available
over the Internet. - Commercial sites without substantial free information or subject matter will not be included.
- In selecting sites that offer "ready-reference" answers, special care was taken to provide value-neutral sites whenever possible. Therefore, sites that reflect a viewpoint whether political, corporate, or individual were excluded.
Suggest a Site for the Collection
Anyone who uses the collection can bring a site to the editorial board's attention. At the bottom of each page is a link for suggesting sites to add to the Virtual Reference Shelf.