EVALUATE INTERNET INFORMATION

Can you tell good information from misinformation? A search in Google for information on railroads will give you an eighth-grade report, a commercial site, and a hobbyist page. Do you know which site has information you can use in your paper?

Here are five major clues to help you determine whether or not to trust the information on a website:
Clue #1	Authority Who is the author? Most scholarly and professional sites will provide the full name and contact information for the author of the site. Look for any credentials listed. Is the author affiliated with a professional organization or educational institution?
Clue #2	Accuracy How accurate is the information on the website? Look for bibliographies or works cited to see if the sources sound legitimate. Also, check to see if any part of the information can be verified in another source, such as an encyclopedia or a reference source.  One final tip: look for obvious errors like misspellings and incorrect facts.
Clue #3	Objectivity What is the purpose of the page? Many pages are just want to sell you a product. Others want to persuade you toward a particular viewpoint. Try to determine the purpose of a page before you trust its content. Beware of excessive advertising on the page.
Clue #4	Currency When was the page created or last updated? Check the works cited or bibliography to see how old the sources are. In addition, check to see that all of the facts on the page are current.
Clue #5	Page Design How professional does the page look?  In a professional or educational site, the content will be the main focus of the page, not the design. It should be easy to navigate the website.

THE BOTTOM LINE: There is no hard and fast rule for determining accuracy of web pages. Take these clues into consideration when evaluating a website and be wary of information you find on the Internet. Because it is not reviewed and selected by your professor or a librarian, it won't ever be as trustworthy as the material you will find in the library or in a database. Use Google, but use it with caution!