Evaluating Info Found on the Internet

With so much out there on the web, it is hard to decipher sometimes what is true and what is not. As current students, and future educators it is very important to know if what we are looking at is worth our time and if it is valid.
Some ways of checking for the validity of a source is to:
-See if it has a creditable author
-Does the work have a publisher? If it does, it is likely that it has been screened and more likely than not, the info that you are reading is valid
-Be aware of a biased point of view- Just because it is someone's view, does not make it fact, even if it is coming from a creditable author
-Check for knowledge of the literature... Is there a bibliography? Is the author using creditable sources to back his/her knowledge?
-Accuracy... Make sure that the source of the information is valid.
-Is the information Current? If this is going to alter your research, make sure you are finding up to date sources to research from.

Making sure we are educating our students on how to evaluate information that they find on the web is very important so that they have valid, up to date sources when they are looking for research. We are very fortunate to have so many sources available to us through the internet and other technological means, but it is our job to know how to use them and to be able to decipher between the good and the bad.