Using online platforms (such as Google) to find credible resources

1. How to use the internet for
reliable research
How to sift through websites
to find credible resources.

2. Appropriate Websites
• When embarking on internet research, it is important to discern what are
appropriate research materials. For quality research, you expect to yield
reliable, factual information about your topic. The following are excellent
choices:
– Academic journals
• J-Stor, Directory of Open Access, Dissertations
– Government publications
• The World Factbook, UK Legislation
– Government authorities
• NHS, Home Office
– Online reference materials (encyclopedias, dictionaries, guides).
• Britannica Online, Encyclopedia Smithsonian, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
– Archived news
• The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The New York Times
– Tip: always consider the bias which any of these resources may hold when
conducting your research.

3. Inappropriate Websites
• Websites which are not conducive to quality research,
are those in which the veracity of the information is
questionable at best. These include the following:
– Personal Blogs
• Blogspot, WordPress
– Forums and discussions
• Answers in Yahoo
– Wiki websites
• Wikipedia
– Commercial advertisement-driven websites
• About.com

4. How to evaluate reliability
• The issue with finding a quality website is determining
whether it is reliable. There are three routes to determine
reliability:
– 1st: Check the web address. If it ends in the following, that’s a
good indication of a reliable website:
• edu (USA university websites)
• .ac.uk (UK university websites)
• .gov (USA government pages)
• .gov.uk (UK government pages)
– Tip: You should also look into the background of the university to
determine what bias the particular article may postulate.
• Ex: if you find an article from www.liberty.edu, you will notice this is a
Christian liberal arts school. The journal or dissertation you find from
this website will likely hold that bias.

5. How to evaluate reliability
• 2nd: Check the background information of
the website, the author, and/or organisation.
– Evaluate the following:
• The author’s educational background and experience
• The organization's history
• Any association or memberships of the website and/or
author.
• Links between this website and other well-known sites.

6. How to evaluate reliability
• 3rd- Check the references.
– What references did the writer of this information
use, if any?
• If no references are listed and you are already dubious
about this website- do not use it in your research.
– Are the references from reputable sources (e.g.,
books, journals, reliable websites) or are they from
disreputable sources (e.g., blogs, wikis, etc.)?

7. Example 1
• I search for a website about panda bears, and encounter
the following:
– http://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/giantpandas/pandafacts/
• Is it a reliable web site?
• When I go into the “about us”
section on the webpage, I find
this page is associated with the
Smithsonian Institute. This is
a large research institution in
the U.S.
• Yes, it is a reliable page.

8. Example 2
• I search for a website on history during the Georgian times, and come
across this website:
http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/georgians/georgianhome.html
• Is it reliable?
• I look at “about us”
and find this is an
article published by the
British Library, a
national research
library.
• Yes, it is reliable.

9. Example 3
• I search for information about the English Civil Wars, and come across this:
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/civil_war_england.htm
• Is it reliable?
• I check the author information
of this website. It was set up and
written by Chris Trueman, who
had a BA from Aberystwyth
University. He also taught
History at the secondary level.
• The credentials are good, but it’s
difficult to find out whether they
are true. When searching for a
reference list, I couldn’t find any.
• No, due to the lack of references
and difficulty finding additional
information about the author, I
wouldn’t recommend it.

10. Example 4
• I want to know the difference between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. I
come across this website: http://www.wikihow.com/Learn-to-Tell-the-
Difference-Between-Sunni-and-Shiite-Beliefs
• Is it reliable?
• This is a wiki page, which
virtually anyone can edit or add
to. By nature, wiki pages make it
impossible to know exactly how
credible information is (you
can’t check the background of
each author).
• No, it is not reliable.

11. Example 5
• I want information on the existence of the soul in the body. I search
and find this website: http://tab.faculty.asu.edu/chapter81.html
• Is it reliable?
• I notice that it ends in .edu.
• I do some searching and find
that this article comes directly
from the reading list in a class
called “The History of
Ancient Philosophy” from
Arizona State University.
• Yes, it is reliable.

12. Can Wikipedia ever be used in research?
• The ONLY time you should use Wikipedia (and as a last
resort) is to consult the references of a particular topic.
• This should only be
utilized after you have
exhausted other routes
of searching including
the use of boolean
operators.

13. Example of using Wikipedia References
• I am searching for information about the history of honor. After exhausting my search
parameters, I check Wikipedia and find a page called “Honour.” I scroll down to the
references:
I find there is a book called
“Honor, a History” by James
Bowman. We do not have
this in the library, but James
Bowman does have a website
with additional articles on the
subject, also shown on
Wikipedia.

14. Example Continued…
• JamesBowman.net contains
numerous articles about Honour.
I check his background history:
• He has a BA and MA from
reputable universities. He is a
published author, and editor. He
was the Assistant Master at
Westminster School in London.
• Is this reliable?
• Yes
Tip: Always check the reliability of websites.