The Internet can be a valuable source for supplementing the information you have gathered from books and periodicals. But how do you know if you've found sites with credible information?

1. Evaluate sites according to standard journalist questions: Who, What, Where, When, and Why.

• Who wrote the article? Anyone whose name you've come across in your research? Are the author's credentials or expertise indicated? Also, who sponsors the Web site? Check the site's ABOUT US for that information. A quality site also often has a Mission Statement. If you can't find these elements, then look for another site.
• What can you gain from this site that you haven't already obtained with library resources?
• Where on the Web is the site--in what domain? .org, .edu, and .gov tend to have more credible information with fewer conflicts of interest (biases) than .com sites, which indicate corporate or personal sponsorship.
• When was the site last updated? When was the article written? Social issues change, so look for current sites. Regularly updated sites are well cared for and may indicate higher quality than sites not touched for ten years.
• Why does the site exist? To inform? To entertain? To solicit donations? To recruit members?

2. Limit Search to .org, .edu, or .gov by adding the domain extension to your search with site:

Example:    Handgun crime site:.gov  

The above search will return a list of government sites only, many of them federal. Helps focus your search.

3. Compare information to that which you've already read in library resources, such as books and journal articles.   

4. Rather than searching for sites, search within sites preselected by experts in an Internet Directory such as EDC's
    Internet Subject Guide (see column on left of this page).