Web Site of the Week: Snopes
Posted by: Christine Bulson
When the Encyclopedia of Urban Legends was published, reference librarians were happy to have a printed source that might answer those questions about rumors, gossip, strange news and other misinformation. We now use Snopes.com, developed by David and Barbara Mikkelson in the early age of the Internet, which expands on the concept of urban legends. Current news from Snopes include “The 5,000 Christmas wreaths at Arlington Cemetery” (true), “Hold that Tiger” (false) and “Jacob Hadcock” (mixture of true, false and outdated information). The majority of entries describe the origin, have photos and best of all for librarians, end with a bibliography! This is an entertaining and educational source that may become addictive.
