Ask yourself the following questions:  (note that you will not necessarily find all of these criteria in every source, even the most reliable sources)

A. How authoritative and neutral should the information be?

1. Discuss search results from a scholarly databases vs those for a search engine (overlap with other skill sets and ShowMe: surfing or researching? )

a. scholarly databases

b. freely available sources for reasonably trustworthy websites:

• Librarians' Index to the Internet
• Internet Public Library
• FirstGov

*** Flash Animation: Visual: show example search in google vs subscription database

2. Discuss peer reviewed materials vs non-peer reviewed materials (overlap with other skill sets)

a. find peer-reviewed sources by searching the library's subscription databases

3. Some sources may present a biased or one-sided view or have a specific agenda (how to determine this?)

a. reviews of information sources and author's qualifications/biography can help to determine how authoritative or neutral information is.

b. Domains

• .edu: educational-anything from serious research to student's personal pages. Only educational institutions can get a .edu domain, but remember students and professors can post personal pages so keep authorship in mind.
• .gov: governmental-usually dependable, only government agencies and organizations can get this domain.
• .com: commercial-usually trying to sell you something, could be a product or an idea. Anyone can get a .com domain.
• .net: network-may provide services to commercial or individual customers. Anyone can get a .net domain.
• .org: organization-usually non-profit institutions; may be biased or a wonderful source of information, so be sure to evaluate these sites closely. Anyone can get a .org domain.
• note country codes for international sites (.uk, .ca, .au, etc.)
• How to deconstruct a URL.

*** Flash Animation: Visual: give good and bad examples of the different types of domains in terms of bias and authority.

c. who published the material or is responsible for it?

d. are the author's goals and objectives clearly stated?

e. are alternative points of view offered?

f . is there advertising on the site? If yes, does the content differentiate itself from the advertising?

g. who is linking to this website? Use Google Link to get a sense of how many other pages are linking to a website (example: using Google , search: link: www.bu.edu).

h. bias can be detected from reading the information on the site and comparing it to other sources, especially those available through the library's subscription databases.

4. How accurate is the information?

a. can any factual information be verified?

b. are statistics available and clearly labeled?

c. are there any spelling or grammatical errors?

B. Do you need primary, secondary, or tertiary information? (overlap with other skill sets, focus on primary and secondary)

C. How current should the information be? (overlap with Erin's time line)

1. note that it is sometimes difficult to determine when a website was last updated, so use caution when searching the "free web" for current information.  If a website uses templates, the date stamp can be unreliable as an accurate measure of when the site's CONTENT was updated

2. if searching the "free web," check to see if there are broken links on the website.

3. Visual: demonstrate where to find publication year information in a citation.  (overlaps with other skill sets)

4. Visual: demonstrate where to find publication information in a book? (overlaps with other skill sets)

D. To what type/level of audience should the information you are looking for be targeted?

E. What is the broad subject of the information you are searching for (business, education, science, etc.)? Be sure to choose an appropriate source for this subject.

1. use the library's eResources by subject page

2. use the library's research guides

F. How well does the source cover the topic you are searching?

1. Does the site go into depth about the topic?

2. Is the site under construction or incomplete?

3. Does the site link to other credible sites or peer-reviewed sources?