Tips for Research
Tip #1. Explore
"In Memory of Columbine High School" has many different pages with a lot of information. Simply viewing the first page of the site will not help you very much. The best way to gather information is to start by clicking on the pictures of each of the victims. From there, you can go to the original "In Memory of Columbine High School" site which has addresses to send memorials and links to more information such as poetry and an archive of memorials left by visitors to my site since April of 1999. There is also a ton of factual information available in the Fact Files. Finally, you can go to the guestbook and leave a memorial of your own.
Tip #2. Find Other Sites
"In Memory of Columbine High School" is only one of many sites found on the world wide web with information on Columbine. Several of those sites are listed underneath the information for each victim. On each of the victim's pages, there are at least two links to other sites that have information on Columbine. Another site with a ton of information about Columbine and links to other Columbine memorials is Yahoo's Columbine Shooting Site. Finally, if you can't find enough information through the suggestions listed above, you should try to search for more information. Good search sites include Yahoo,Search.com,Lycos, and Webcrawler.
Tip #3. Contact the Webmaster
Many people who use my site to research often have specific questions they want answered. Although I do not always have time to answer every question, I encourage users of my site to E-mail me at [email protected]. Though I do not always have an answer to every question, I usually can recommend other people or other sites where you can find the information you need. But I am not the only webmaster who is willing to do this. Most webmasters are eager to hear from their users, and, especially in the case of Columbine memorials, webmasters are more than happy to answer questions about their site. Most webmasters list their E-mail address somewhere on their main page and they usually have a link set up so that all you have to do is click on their address and an E-mail window will pop up on your screen. However, I encourage you to use this option as a last resort since most webmasters list most of the information that they know on their site.
Tip #4. Remember Your Local Library
The internet is a great resource, but many sites contain information that is inaccurate. Though this is not always the case, it is a good idea to cross check your information for accuracy. One of the best ways to do this is to go to your local library. I do admit that the internet holds more information than any one library, but I still trust the library for the information it does have. Most libraries also have internet terminals allowing you to do all your research in one place. Besides, most teachers still require their students to reference a book along with internet sites when writing a research paper. Whichever source you use, just don't forget to put credit where credit is due!
Tip #5. Learn All You Can
Finally, it is just important to learn all you can while you explore the internet or your local library. There is so much valuable information out there, who knows what you will pick up from one trip across the web or a book shelf. Remember, the entire reason for research is to better understand something that you knew little about before searching for information. In the case of this site, I only hope that you leave with a better understanding of the impact of the events of April 20, 1999.