The Internet is a very powerful medium. All types of information can be spread out in a matter of seconds. The need to evaluate does not only aim to prove its reliability but also to confirm if its contents were legally reproduced. It is important to prevent ourselves from being accidentally being compromised in the illegal use of materials online. When you search the Internet for information, you use numerous search devices that help you find the specific data. But how can you tell if the data on websites are reliable? Not everything that you find on the Internet is accurate. Sometimes the information can be misleading, opinionated or simple incorrect. This is because putting up data online is easy; anyone with computer and an Internet can do it, and computer genius isn’t even necessary. So how do you recognize a reliable or an inaccurate website? Here are some tips;
Know the Website. Before even reading the data on the website, check the url of the page first. Government site usually use the domain “gov”. Educational Sites uses “edu,” Organizational Sites use “org,” Commercial sites use “com” though this is not restricted to commercial site only. The question to ask now is, does the content of the site fit the domain?
Check the Publisher. Who made the webpage? Is it an individual, an organization, a group of people, or an agency? Check for indication as to who wrote the specific articles. Is it a popular organization or an agency? If it is a personal page, is the writer qualifying enough to write about the issue? Usually the answers to these questions will be on the links that say “About Us”, “Biography”, or “About the Company”. It is also important to check the dates when the site is last updated. Although freshness of the materials depend on our needs, dates are essential especially on factual and statistical information.
Evaluate the work and the Educational Credentials of the Author/ Writer. He or she may just be a hobbyist, self proclaimed expert, or an enthusiast. It is possible that page is merely an opinion of a writer. Be sure to find the reason to believe on the page.
Look for additional information such as “related links”, “Additional sites”, “Further reading” and the like. It is important that you know where the author got the information. And even when the links are available, it is also important to check that the links work. Although all these may sounds too time consuming, but think of evaluating websites as a responsibility. You are using the internet to find information and what is the use of it if the information you’re getting is inaccurate?