There is a lot of great information on the Internet, but sometimes its hard to figure out what is usable and what you should leave behind This is because the Internet is a medium that is not regulated by a standard set of publication practices or editorial processes. In fact, the entire spectrum of information types exist on the Internet. This means writers have the responsibility of knowing how to assess the information they find on the Internet using measurements like:
All of these variables come into when deciding if a source is appropriate to use in a paper assignment.
Useful questions to ask when assessing a source:
Who is the author? What is their authority to write on this subject? Is the author an expert on the topic? (education, credentials, work experience)
Are there citations (footnotes, endnotes, etc.) and/or a bibliography? If it is an online source, are there hyperlinks that take you to the original information sources?
What is the purpose of the resource? Is it to inform readers, to report on a scholar’s research project or to persuade them of a certain viewpoint?
Is the source biased? In what way? Do you think the author has an agenda? Or the publisher?
How current or up-to-date is the source? Look for a publication date. How does the currency affect your research topic?
What kind of Publication Process did the source go through? Do you think it was peer-reviewed?
Do you think that this source is popular or scholarly? Why?