For an excellent tutorial on the basics of Internet-based research, including the difference between good research and plagiarism, take a look through the Internet Detective [accessed 1 November 2006].

While there's a lot of information on Google's own help pages, there are some easier explanations on how Google works at Google Guide [accessed 1 November 2006].

An excellent account of the rise of Google and its success in rethinking how web advertising works is given by Battelle (2005).

For those with a more mathematical mind, the original description of the Google PageRank algorithm is contained within Brin & Page (1998).