Is the information developed and published by a credible source?
Assessing whether or not the information being published
is credible is understanding what purpose this site had for publishing
this information and if the person who developed this resource has
the authority or knowledge for developing this information.
The following points will help you answer this question.
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1. check the domain name.
Historically, if you found information on a .org,
.com, or .net site, you knew that .org meant the site was published
by a non-profit organization, .com meant that the site was published
for commercial purposes, and .net meant that the site was published
by a network. But those descriptive names have become blurred
with one another.
However, .gov and .edu names still remain constant
in identifying the kind of site. When you see .edu you know that
this is an educational institution while the following sites are
published by governments: .gov is United States government, .ca
is Canadian government, .jp is Japanese government, etc.
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2. identify the purpose this domain site has for publishing
information on the Internet
There are several ways that you can discover their purpose for
hosting this information.
- If the site is a .com, usually their purpose is to generate
revenue in some way. Determine how they are trying to do this.
- If the site is .org, .com, or .net, read the information that
describes who they are and why they are publishing this information.
- If the site is .org, .com, or .net, find out if they are being
sponsored by other reputable organizations.
- If the site is governmental or educational (.gov or .edu)
be sure that they have clearly identified who they are.
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3. check for tilde ~ in the URL
A tilde ~ in the URL indicates that this information was published
by an individual and may not reflect the stated standards of their
domain.
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4. determine who authored this information
Sometimes information does not need to include who authored the
information, but at times it does. You should discuss with your
class when this would be a necessity. Have your students ask the
following questions:
- Is the author stated with their email address?
- What qualifications does this author have for publishing this
information?
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 Go
to the next page to find tips to determine if this
is a helpful resource that is rich in content.
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