updated: 24 April 2006

Introduction

Publishing information on the publicly accessible WWW is not difficult. No review process exists that verifies the accuracy or legitimacy of web content. Consequently, one should be extremely critical when assessing the suitability of information on the web for research purposes.

This module will address some questions you should ask whenever using information from the web, especially for research purposes.  In particular, it will look at issues related to:

• authoritativeness and accuracy of information
   
• the purpose of information
   
• the objectivity of a source

While this tutorial touches lightly on some things to consider, in reality judging whether to use certain information found on the web for your research is a complex process.  Just remember to keep asking yourself some key questions:

• should I trust this information?
   
• why do I trust it?
   
• can I verify it?
   
• how does it fit in with my research topic?

In fact, these questions should be considered with any information you find, whether in print or on the web.

Ready to move on? Go to Authoritativeness and Accuracy

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada License.  York University Libraries & Foundations Computer Assistance Program, York University, Toronto, ON Canada M3J 1P3.

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