To Use Or Not to Use?

My professor says I can't use Web sources for my paper.

Ask your professor to clarify this, because there are basically 'two Webs.' There is the "public Web" content that search engines find, and there's the "invisible Web" which are portions of the Web not accessible through Web search engines. This proprietary region of the Web IS accessible to you because the Libraries buy these resources and makes them available to the WVU community. These resources are available to you as databases accessible through the Libraries' Web pages.

An article you find using an online article index such as Historical Abstracts also exists in a journal in print. It's just delivered via the Web by the library to facilitate research.

Go with the strengths of the public Web
• to obtain information on colleges, museums, non-profit organizations, or companies
• for very current information such as news, sports scores, weather, stock quotes
• to research a well-known event or individual
• to use online job postings, shopping, auctions, or travel services
• for opinions on a topic

Stop and think! Remember the other uses of web-based resources beyond the public Web including:
• to find articles in scholarly journals
• to find articles published in popular magazines
• to search databases that index articles in many academic disciplines
• to find books on your topic
• to locate the full text of articles or books that are copyrighted