The internet is amazing; it is full of fantastic information
that will help you with assignments. However, not all of the information you
find on the internet is correct. You need to be able to work out what
information is reliable and therefore suitable to use in assignments.
There are a number of ways you can decide whether an online
source is credible, I like to ask myself the following questions:
Who wrote it?
Check who has written the content. You might find this information on the ‘About us’ page of the website, the author might be an individual, a group or an organisation. Hopefully they will also include information on the author’s credentials, for instance if you are reading an article on literacy programs in primary schools and the author has a master’s degree in education then they have appropriate expertise on the subject they are writing about. If you cannot find any information about who wrote the website then you should be wary about using any information on the website.
Check who has written the content. You might find this information on the ‘About us’ page of the website, the author might be an individual, a group or an organisation. Hopefully they will also include information on the author’s credentials, for instance if you are reading an article on literacy programs in primary schools and the author has a master’s degree in education then they have appropriate expertise on the subject they are writing about. If you cannot find any information about who wrote the website then you should be wary about using any information on the website.
What kind of website
is it?
The above image shows how to break down a URL to tell what
kind of organisation created the website. Below you will see how to identify
what the organisation part of a website address means. If a website is
commercial then you can expect that the information on the site will be geared
towards trying to get you to purchase something or agree with something they
have said. Organisation (.org) website can often be very useful, the Beyond
Blue website is a .org website www.beyondblue.org.au
and is a great source of information and tools. However you still need to be
careful about who created the website, make sure the information is accurate,
some organisation websites will not be as good as Beyond Blue.
As a general rule I would concentrate on aiming to use
websites that are government, education or academic websites with some
organisation websites where appropriate. If you are ever in doubt ask your
teacher, I’m sure they will be able to help you.  |
| Types of websites you may come across |
Is the information
biased?
Information can be presented in certain ways with the aim of convincing the reader of something. For example if you were reading a website about the effect of pesticides on our food that was written by a company that sells pesticides you would find that more than likely the chemicals would be discussed in a positive manner. This website therefore would not be suitable to use for an assignment.
Information can be presented in certain ways with the aim of convincing the reader of something. For example if you were reading a website about the effect of pesticides on our food that was written by a company that sells pesticides you would find that more than likely the chemicals would be discussed in a positive manner. This website therefore would not be suitable to use for an assignment.
Is the information
accurate?
Is it written in appropriate language without spelling mistakes? Does the information provide facts or statistics? If so then are you able to check the sources of these statistics to ensure they are accurate.
Is it written in appropriate language without spelling mistakes? Does the information provide facts or statistics? If so then are you able to check the sources of these statistics to ensure they are accurate.
Is the information
current?
How recent is the information in the website? For many subjects you don’t want to look at information that is more than 5 years old when you are looking at online resources unless the information is of historical significance to the subject of your assignment.
How recent is the information in the website? For many subjects you don’t want to look at information that is more than 5 years old when you are looking at online resources unless the information is of historical significance to the subject of your assignment.
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