Using the Internet can pose problems for researchers. Unlike for books and scholarly journals, no standard of scholarship is required or enforced for material posted on the Web. Anyone can create content on the Web, and often there is no way to confirm someone's credentials. It is up to the researcher to evaluate a website for quality. Use the following criteria to evaluate the credibility of the information you find on the Web and to determine if a website is suitable for scholarly research:
Check the domain of the site for clues as to its reliability (.com, .edu, .gov, .org, etc.). Some domains are restricted to certain types of organizations, while others may be bought or sold by anyone. The domains .edu, .gov and .mil are strictly limited to educational institutions, branches of government, and the military. There are no limitations on .com & .org. Always be aware of who is publishing the website.
For general information about internet searching, check out our Research on the Web page.
The following lessons are classroom-ready and easy for faculty to incorporate into their assignments.
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