As stated previously, the World Wide Web is becoming a predominant force in the research practices of students. As seen in this study, more than half of the students are utilizing the Web for research and even more are expected to use it as it becomes more readily available to them. Above and beyond evaluation methods for print materials, educators surveyed in this study recognize the need for specialized evaluation methods for Web resources that is in line with studies by Fenske in 1998 and Johnson in 1995. As Farah (1995) has pointed out, the research process is changing because of the World Wide Web. Students are viewing resources from the Web as the "better resource" and view themselves as having an advantage with access to the Web. Though teachers may not agree that the Web has better resources, they do agree that those with access have a greater advantage than those without. Ultimately, with students utilizing the Web more, students will be more responsible for determining which Web resources are the quality resources.

In addition, more students are expected to use Web resources in the future because it is a resource that is allowed by teachers for research projects. As seen in this study, teachers allow Web resources more than any of the other listed resources such as CD-ROMs, videotapes, audiotapes, and television shows. Though the other four usually have an editing and review body, it is the Web that is more accepted by teachers. This acceptance by teachers send and oblique message out to students to use the Web. One teacher even commented that projects that were assigned were sometimes "too specialized or obscure a topic" to find published print information. In that case, the Web was the best tool to use to find equally specialized and obscure resources.

As stated by several of the reviewers, OASIS is a good starting point and effort at providing a means of Web resource evaluation for students. There are several improvements that can be made to the design of the icon and the wording of some of the questions. Further revision of the Span criterion will make this instrument more effective. Also, some short examples of accurate versus non-accurate, fact versus fiction versus opinion, and time frame of resource versus timeframe of research project can be incorporated. But overall, it still proved effective as a short and practical instrument for students to use.

Development time of the project could also have been made more efficient by planning for several things. First, the schedule of the teachers and curriculum to fit the goal of the project could have been made smoother. Also, discussion sessions could have been led by both the investigator and the teacher to make the students more open to sharing comments. Comments were difficult to obtain from students because the students were unfamiliar with the investigator. Perhaps the approach to each class could have been planned differently too. To make introduction of concepts and ideas consistent for all three classes, the investigator followed a pre-planned outline. However, because the social nature of the classes was all distinctly different, each class received the investigator and the information differently and at different degrees of understanding. It was a difficult task for the investigator, and is for guest speakers and other educators, to enter a well-established clasroom environment and build a rapport with the students in only two short periods. The investigator did enjoy the interaction with all three classes and the challenge and stimulation it provided to relate to all three.

Several recommendations by the KNL reviewers and SME were for future visions for OASIS. First, two additional versions of OASIS could be developed for each school level -elementary, middle, and high school. This would enable students to start working with OASIS at a young age and be introduced more concepts under each category as they enter higher grades. Another suggestion was to develop OASIS into an end product for a full instructional module with comparison exercises, both paper-based and online. The instructional module could be comparable to that of the Internet Driver's License where the students and teachers work through a workbook and exercises and earn a certificate of completion. The investigator would also like to see training workshops be developed for librarians and teachers to learn how to introduce OASIS to students and other teachers.