Evaluating Sources of Information

You might have heard that domain names, like .org or .com, were good indicators of a website’s quality.  While that may have been the case way back in the early days of the internet, a site’s domain name is no longer considered a good mark of authority.  You can find both high- and low-quality websites with almost any domain name. 

How professional a website looks is not always a clue to the level of quality you’ll find.  It is increasingly easy to make a well-designed attractive website for little to no cost. It is more important to investigate the creators of the site than to rely on how professional a site looks.

"About" sections on websites are an opportunity for organizations to tell you what they want you to know about them. They are not always a true picture of that organization's mission or purpose. To get a fuller picture, check other reliable sources and see what they have to say too.

Just because a website includes citations doesn’t automatically make it reliable.  Many sites will link to or cite content from the same site or content that is unreliable. Even if the source is credible, the site might be using the information out of context or incorrectly. It's worth taking a closer look to see where the links lead and whether the sources really back up the claims.