Mr.

10 Ways to Determine the Credibility of Information on the Internet

By

John Smathers

1.Use the “URL to determine the source of the information” and ask if it is from an “academic or a commercial source” (Burbules, 2001).

2.The author or source of the information should show some evidence of being knowledgeable, reliable, and truthful (Harris, 2006). If there is obvious anonymity the work may be suspect (Greg R. Johnson, public presentation, May 27, 2006)

3.If the work shows a lack of quality – bad grammar or misspelled words (Greg R. Johnson, public presentation, May 27, 2006) – or if it is not designed well and does not look well-maintained (Burbules, 2001), it may be suspect.

4.Look for summary meta-information (abstracts, content summaries, contents, etc.), evaluative meta-information (recommendations, ratings, reviews, and commentaries), or negative meta-information (Harris, 2006).

5.Determine whether the information is up-to-date. Therefore, “be careful to note when the information (I) find was created, and then decide whether it is still of value, and how much value” (Harris, 2006). Also, I should look for a “last updated” date (Burbules, 2001).

6.Be aware of biases and attempt to determine the intended audience or purpose of the article that is under consideration. I need to be award of false objectivity (Harris, 2006).