Although many people go to the Web first for information, it is not always the best place to start.

Most information on the Web does not go through a review process.
Anyone can publish on the Web without passing the content through an editor. Pages might be written by an expert, a journalist, an angry consumer or even a child.

Some information on the Web is not free.
Many Web pages are free to view, but some commercial sites will charge a fee to access their information.

Information on the Web is not organized.
Some directory services, like Yahoo, provide links to sites in subject lists. But there are too many Web pages for any single directory service to organize and index.

Most information on the Web is limited.
In depth research requires the use of a variety of sources. Rarely will you be able to use a search engine on the Web to collect information about your topic from earlier decades and different types of sources.  In-depth research requires various types of sources.

Most information on the Web is not permanent.
Some sites are well-maintained and updated with very current information, but other sites become dated quickly or disappear without notice.