Accessing+Information

When searching for information it is important to look for the following, the website must have the proper credentials, provide a reference list, contact info, or some sort of author/company behind the site. It is important to look for who or what the site is affiliated with. You can tell if a website is credible by looking at the url (i.e: .gov, .org, .edu, etc...). It is also important to make sure there is no bias in the text and to make sure what the objectivity is of the site is. Major questions you need to ask are: is the website informative, educational, commercial, persuasive? One must remember who their audience is and see if the information is acceptable or applicable for that audience. The information should be current and the website will usually state the last time the site was updated. Also, one must look at the content and the web design, which should be easy to navigate and well organized. Usually, when all of these requirements are met, a website will more than likely be credible and a reliable source. However, one must still do research on their own to ensure that the information they use is reliable as well as copyright friendly.