190 Search for Credible Information

With an easy access to online resources, searching for information has become incredibly fast. Just open any search engine, like Google or Yahoo!, and the whole world is just one key stroke away. It might sound paradoxical, but such simple search can be very difficult, when we need to filter through pages and pages of resources to find the ones that are credible! So what should we check on a website to make sure that the information we get is good?

1. Find out sources of Information

Check where the information comes from and who an author is. Carefully read the URL address. Does the name make sense? Is it a government organization (.gov), an educational establishment (.edu), a non-profit organization (.org – though be careful, this extension does not apply only to non-profits any more), or a company/individual (.net, .com, or .biz).

Also, check that the information presented by various supports or sponsors of the website is not biased.

An author can be either a person who wrote an article or organization that posted it. If the organization is not familiar to you, make sure to read such sections of a website as “About Us,” “Mission,” “Background,” or any other sections that would offer additional information about the author. In addition, make sure that the author is an expert on the topic. It would not make much sense to look for information on dental problems on a website owned by a podiatrist.

Check out the dates as well to make sure that the information is regularly updated.

2. Find out the main purpose of the content

Next, find out what the main purpose of the content is (general education, selling of a specific product or service, entertainment, etc.) and who should be reading the information (audience). The purpose may change the point of view!

3. Check for the accuracy of Information

Check how accurate the information is.

This step might be harder if you are not familiar with the topic, but comparison of the information across several websites might be helpful. Another way to do that is to see related links on the page. Such cross-reference will help better understand both accuracy of the information and affiliation of the website.

References:

Evaluating Information Sources. IUPUI University Library. https://iupui.libguides.com/howtoresearch/evaluate-sources

Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask. University of California at Berkeley. http://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/evaluating-resources

American University Library Information Literacy Tutorial on Evaluating Information. https://subjectguides.library.american.edu/infolit