Now that you have identified a tentative thesis statement for your research paper, it is time to do some more research.

You are already familiar with Web sites from your work in this class (in fact, you are viewing a Web site right now!), but have you considered how useful Web sites can be for writing a research paper? Since the World Wide Web is becoming more sophisticated every day, it is helpful to learn a little more about how to search for Web sites. In fact, it may be helpful to begin with a definition of the term "Web site."

A Web site is an electronic information source accessed through the Internet. "Web" is short for the "World Wide Web" (WWW), which is the worldwide network of Web sites. A "site" on the World Wide Web can provide a wealth of information on a topic in any number of formats (text, sound, images, animation, etc.) A Web site is generally comprised of several individual Web pages. Each Web site has a unique location on the Internet, revealed by its address, or URL (Uniform Resource Locator). You will notice that most Web site addresses fall within one the seven following domains, helping to identify the type of site you have located: