The Answer
What was that question again?			The home page for this site makes clear that it is a project about the domestic aspects of westward exploration, the women's point of view. The site focuses on "women's personal narratives" or journals they kept while traveling out West. You are still left unsure, though, of the accuracy and reliability of the site's information. As we noted earlier, the account of Lavinia's travels could be fiction, taken from a novel or a fantasy game. Unless you check, you'll never know who put the information on the web, and whether it is what it seems to be.
Find the Individual or Group Which Developed the Site			Further down, the page says, This project is an effort to illustrate a group missing from Henry Nash Smith's Virgin Land: the domestic woman. America's Western Women have been many things: 'Madonna of the Prairies,' 'Reluctant Pioneer,' 'Saint in a Sunbonnet,' or 'Pioneer in Petticoats.' It is less frequent that she is just Emily French or Eliza McAuley. Henry Nash Smith's book Virgin Land: has been an important source for historians and others studying American expansion along the frontier. However, in this passage, the developers of this site explain that they decided to supplement this book by researching the personal stories of women who participated in the westward expansion. The Domestic West project is designed to supplement Smith's famous account by portraying the experiences of women, a group which Smith left out. Still further down this page, you will see the following:
Look for Buttons or Links to Sources or to the Site's Developers
			Here you can see the link to a Bibliography which shows where the site's information comes from. The very presence of a bibliography suggests that the creator of the site has studied the subject matter. However, you will need to look at it to determine whether the items it lists are sources you can trust.
			You can also see other useful buttons, including one labeled Comments, which allows you to email the site's creator. Another, labeled Return to Virgin Land, lets you go directly to Henry Nash Smith's Virgin Land, the book whose strengths and limitations inspired this site.
Hands-on			Consider this Web site:
			What are the limitations and strengths of this site? What projects would it be useful for? What additional materials might you need to make the best use of this site? Check your answer
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