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 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.  Do your own research on the organization to see what other trusted sources have to say.

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. Check out the citations and linked resources to be sure they are from credible sources.