How to reference something you found online
In the Harvard Style
| In-Text Reference: used when you are quoting or paraphrasing a source in the body of your essay. It follows an author-date format. The above reference would appear as (Beard, 2006) in-text. |
Remember:
In the same way you reference books and journal articles, you need to reference anything you find online.
You might not be able to find all of the information (e.g. some webpages have no individual author), but take note of the information that's available and put it into your referencing style.
For more information on how to reference online resources see our referencing guide.
Maynooth Library Website
When you want to find information that will help you with your academic work, we recommend you start with the MU Library website.
It's your one stop portal to finding out everything about the Library, including:
- Opening hours
- Our collections
- Our Library Catalogue
- And much more - all available here.
MU Education Departmental Website
The Department of Education’s website provides up to date information and news for that department.
For students and staff of the department, it also provides access to key information such as
- The Departmental Handbook
- Essay Cover Sheets for assignments.
- Details of Departmental staff and their areas of interest.
Online Resources
While it is required to use academic sources provided by the Library such as Books and Journals & Databases for your assignments and research, good quality online resources can make an important difference to your work.
Be careful!: Unlike academic resources, general online resources often don’t go through a process to check they are of high quality. So you will need to assess them yourself by following the advice below and reading our Evaluating Information Guide.
Is an online source reliable or is it Fake News?
When you encounter online information you should ask yourself five Questions:
- How recently was the information published / updated?
- Is it relevant to your work?
- Do you trust the author?
- Is it supported by evidence?
- For what reason was the information published?
Find out more about Evaluating Information in our Successful Searching Guide.
Common Domains
The following is a list of common website domains and their purpose. Keep and eye out for these while searching for online resources.
.Com : Used for commercial purposes
.Org : Used by organisations
.Net : Used by networking technologies
.Edu : Used by educational institutions
.Gov : Used by governmental entities
