Overview

How Stuff Works (http://www.howstuffworks.com/) is a source that provides an overview on how stuff works and for a lot of stuff. A review of who is behind the information on HowStuffWorks, shows it is owned by the folks who produce the credible Discovery Channel. They state on the webpage that “HowStuffWorks, a wholly owned subsidiary of Discovery Communications, is the award-winning source of credible, unbiased, and easy-to-understand explanations of how the world actually works. Founded by North Carolina State University Professor Marshall Brain in 1998, the site is now an online resource for millions of people of all ages.” So the webpage is off to a good start from a credible, unbiased perspective and it’s time to apply our own screen on what we find and read. 

There are many topics that How Stuff Works investigates and then delivers into a readable format for the consumer. Food, auto, electronics, animals, money, science and more are there for the taking. The written word on a topic might also be complimented with videos and “consumer opinions and exclusive access to independent expert ratings and reviews from the trusted editors at Consumer Guide.” 

An area of immediate interest for many people might be on the financial and economic world crisis. By clicking on the money link on the main page, then clicking again on money and economics, you are in an area that discusses money and economics. Yet, HowStuffWorks has an index to guides on certain subjects (http://hsw.libguides.com/index.php) that have been put together by a librarian and, when used, save time. More precisely, they have a guide for the HowStuffWorks Economy 101 & Financial Crisis Guide listed in the current index (http://hsw.libguides.com/economics-guide) that gets a reader directly to this topic. 

If you were to start at the main page of HowStuffWorks you might find it hard to find the Economy 101 & Financial Crisis Guide link (or a link to an index of guides) because currently, there is not one. You could build a guide on your own by starting from the money link, next money and economic link on the main page, then sort through information not relating to the crisis, such as how the new $20 bill and bartering work, and collate your own material.

The new $20 bill and bartering information might be of interest at some point in the future, yet the focus is on the economic crisis. I emailed the librarian, Kristiana Burk, who is the Channel Director for HowStuffWorks, to gain an understanding of why a link is not found for the guides on the main page. Kristiana responded quickly noting “Regarding your question - honestly, we have just been so busy trying to get the guides created, work with librarians on what they need most right now, etc. as the first priority – so we are still in progress with LibGuides – more will be coming soon.”