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FindingDulcinea’s Mission

Our mission is to bring users the best information on the Web for any topic, employing human insight and methodical review.

FindingDulcinea presents only credible, high-quality and trustworthy Web sites, saving time for the novice and the experienced user alike.

Each piece, whether a Web Guide, a Beyond the Headlines story or a Netcetera article, receives the same meticulous research.  The Web sites included in each piece are connected through original narrative, providing users with information on each site before they even click on it.

Download our White Paper findingDulcinea: The Librarian for the Internet Age November 2007 (PDF)

Download the findingDulcinea Overview Presentation (PDF)

Our History

Mark E. Moran started findingDulcinea in September 2006 to help Internet users quickly and easily find the best, most credible Web sites. Web search is becoming increasingly difficult for even the savviest of users. Sometimes the site that answers a user’s question is buried on the tenth, not the first, page of search results. Other times, a site that looks like it offers objective information is actually sponsored by a company who wants to direct you to purchase a specific product or service. Mark felt that the best way to cut through the clutter of dubious, useless information was to develop an Internet Librarian: a virtual version of the librarian who helped you find the best books in the library for any topic when you were a kid.

After more than a year of developing the concept and building the backbone of the site, we launched findingDulcinea in October, 2007.

Our Ex-CEO and founder, Mark Moran, comes from a very large family. Mark’s father, Eugene, has seven children and 21 grandchildren. His favorite book is Miguel Cervantes’ classic novel, “Don Quixote.” Every time a granddaughter was born in the Moran extended family, Mark’s father begged the parents to name her after Don Quixote’s ideal woman,  Dulcinea. It never happened, but Mark has provided his father with the next best thing: a family business named for Dulcinea.

In Cervantes’ classic work of fiction, Don Quixote is an unlikely hero, but someone, many of us, can relate to. He spends his life on a quest for an imaginary, idealized woman named Dulcinea. His unrelenting search for her gives his life meaning and transforms him into a chivalrous knight.

Internet users are faced with a similar quest as they search for that one best and reliable answer in the vast sea of information that is the Web. Don Quixote never fulfilled his quest; but we believe that by guiding you to the best sites on the Internet for any topic, findingDulcinea can help you fulfill yours.

We are also revamping the entire website as we took over the business, so you can expect to see a whole new look and feel soon. We’re excited for readers to explore the site and find something new and exciting in the future.

Who is Dulcinea?

In Miguel Cervantes’ classic work of fiction, the hero Don Quixote spends his life on a quest. His search for an imaginary, idealized woman named Dulcinea transforms him into a chivalrous knight. The unrelenting search for her, while unfulfilled, gives his life meaning.

Internet users are faced with a similar quest as they seek ideal Web sites in a vast expanse of information. findingDulcinea is determined to fulfill your ideals by guiding you to the best sites out there. Unlike Don Quixote, who never found his ideal, we believe that with findingDulcinea you can find yours.

Our quest is to turn the Web into a platform where everyone can access the wealth of quality information available.

If you want to read more about Don Quixote or Dulcinea, read the findingDulcinea Don Quixote Web Guide.

Who is behind findingDulcinea.com?

Dulcinea Media, Inc. is a Silicon Alley-based team of savvy Internet users. Our mission is to untangle the Web, clearing it of clutter and spotlighting only the sites that matter. We aim to provide a richer experience for every Internet user.

To find out more about Dulcinea Media, visit the “Our Team” page.

What’s a Web Guide?

Our Web Guides provide resources on thousands of topics.

Our collection of Web Guides began with the original Guide to Web Search. With the Guide to Web Search, you should be able to find any Web resource you need, but we’ve drilled down into much more specific topics to help with more targeted searches.

Our collection of nearly 300 topic-specific Web Guides is always growing, and our research team updates the Web Guides already on the site frequently.

The Guides include fun topics such as Family Travel, academic subjects such as Elementary School Social Studies Resources, and serious health topics such as Leukemia.

To find a Web Guide, use our site search function (in the upper right corner of any findingDulcinea Web page) or browse our guides from the most general guide on the Web Guides main page to the most specific guides by using the Web Guide topics shown on the right side of any Web Guides page.

What’s Beyond the Headlines?

Our Beyond the Headlines section takes news stories and current events and provides answers to the questions that most media sources neglect. Instead of just presenting you with a story, our Beyond the Headlines will give context to the background of, and opinion about a current event or popular news story. Find biographical information about the key players in a news story, get a link to the actual document at the root of a political debate, get the background you need to understand an international conflict, and much more.

Beyond the Headlines not only provides extended coverage and resources for the news stories and current events of today, but with its On This Day coverage you’ll learn about a historical event each day of the year. Today’s News Roundup provides you with an overview of all of news coverage each day around the globe.

Visit Beyond the Headlines to learn more.

What’s Netcetera?


Netcetera
 features all that’s entertaining and topical on the Web. We provide a daily dose of the best of the Internet, including tasteful humor,  profiles of inspiring people, virtual tours of diverse countries, reviews of innovative, useful sites, and weekly articles that distill widely discussed issues. Our aim in this section is to explore the whims and personality of the Web, finding you insightful sources that might otherwise go undiscovered.

Visit Netcetera to learn more.

Does findingDulcinea accept payment or requests to list a Web site?

findingDulcinea’s policy is to not receive payment to recommend any Web site, story, or other online source. We endeavor to specify clearly on our site whenever any of our information is sponsored by a third party.

If you would like to suggest that we include a site in a Web Guide, Beyond the Headlines story, or Netcetera feature, please e-mail the appropriate section and one of our researchers will be happy to evaluate your suggestion. However, only if suggested site meets our strict evaluation criteria can it be selected for inclusion. To find contact information for each section, please see our “Contact Us” page.

What is findingDulcinea’s site selection process?

We evaluate Web sites on many criteria including credibility, usability, and design.

  • Credibility is a fundamental criterion of any site we recommend. When considering a source, we review who has prepared the content, what the site’s editorial policy is, when the page was last updated, and whether undisclosed biases or conflicts of interest may exist.
  • Usability is assessed by asking ourselves the following questions: Does the site communicate its purposes quickly and concisely? Is the site’s navigation conducive to finding information and returning to where you came from? Does obstructive advertising hinder navigation, or does the site make it difficult to differentiate between content and advertising? If a site has a wealth of information but it is difficult to find, the information may be less valuable to our readers.
  • Design  We always note whether or not a site’s design and layout, particularly the presence of advertising, will distract our users from the editorial content, and more importantly, whether or not ads are labeled as such. Some otherwise useful sites unfortunately are rife with advertising or distracting design elements, and when this is the case, we want you to know about it.

Other important factors:

  • Cost: We don’t shy away from recommending outstanding subscription-based sites, but we do evaluate the pros and cons of such sites by signing up for them ourselves. More often than not, we find comparable sites in many categories that do not charge a fee for use.
  • Accessibility: Does the site itself load easily and get updated frequently? Do the links the site provides access to function correctly? How quickly do page loads take on average? Does the site require plug-ins like Adobe FlashPlayer, JavaScript, or other add-ons that might hinder usability? Does the site make its customer service team, authors, or editors available for contact? Where applicable, is the “Help” section well indicated and useful to readers?

Does findingDulcinea have a newsletter?

findingDulcinea currently offers four newsletters.

  • Top Stories will bring you a daily e-mail with updates of some of our Beyond the Headlines coverage so you’ll be the first to know what news stories we’ve just published.
  • Today’s Netcetera delivers our Netcetera coverage each morning. You’ll get an e-mail each day with that day’s people, places, links, daily tilt, and the day’s installment of our weekly feature.
  • Dulcinea Updates is a site-wide e-mail that will be delivered to you once a week. This will feature a bit of content from each section, give you updates so you know what new site features we are adding or improving, and will provide web search tips exclusive to newsletter subscribers.
  • Education will deliver the web’s best education news and resources to your inbox. Signing up for this newsletter will also give you early access to the new site we are developing for educators.

To sign up for any one of our e-mails, go to our newsletter signup page.

What is findingDulcinea’s privacy policy?


Click here to read the findingDulcinea privacy policy in full.

How do I submit a suggestion, question, report an error, or contact findingDulcinea’s staff?

Visit our Contact Us section for the contact information of findingDulcinea’s various departments and staff members.

Do you have job or internship opportunities?

If you are interested in joining our team, please get in touch with [email protected]

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