When writing a paper and using sources from the Web, there are a few things you need to know. Keep the following tips in mind when citing Internet sources.
What are some possible consequences of using unreliable sites as sources?
The answer to this is pretty much common sense: if you decide to use a source that is not giving you good information, your project will not only be inaccurate, but it will also show a lack of critical thinking on your part.
Most educators these days will absolutely check the Web sites that you choose to include, and if these sites do not meet the minimum requirements of credibility, you might lose crucial points on an assignment (or even have to do it over again). Trustworthy sources that stand up to healthy criticism are essential.
When considering potential sources, whether they be on the Web or anywhere else, we have to really use our noggins! One of the best sources I’ve come across lately to help develop critical thinking has to be AusThink’s repository of a wide variety of critical thinking resources. Everything from argument mapping to Web page evaluation can be found here.
How do I know if a Website is worth citing?
Try the Quality Information Checklist. It’s in a quiz format; click on the questions and you’ll get further clarification that can help you figure out if the site you’re looking at is trustworthy or not. There’s also a handy dandy printable list of checkpoints you can print out and have at your side as you are evaluating a site; a great resource.
I'm a teacher. How do I get my students to look at sources more critically?
If you’re an educator, you might want to look at the wonderful Kathy Schrock’s Critical Evaluation Surveys. These are printable forms for students of all ages, from elementary to college, that can help them critically evaluate Web sites, blogs, and even podcasts. Definitely worth a look if you’re teaching your students to have a more critical eye!
How can I tell if a website is truly credible?
Credibility is definitely important – in fact, Stanford University has devoted quite a bit of time to it with their research titled the Web Credibility Project. They’re doing some groundbreaking research on what constitutes real credibility on the Web; be sure to check it out.
The University of Albany has put together a great tutorial on evaluating Web sites. Here, they teach you to evaluate Internet resources using a series of six different criteria (author, audience, scholarship, bias, currency, links), figure out if the Web site you’re looking at meets both your needs and established standards of quality, and best of all – how to use this critical thinking process to apply to possible sources from all mediums, not only on the Web.
Can the domain name of a website tell me if it's credible?
Learn more about how to spot check domain names for credibility with the University of Illinois’s Educators Guide to Credibility and Web Evaluation, especially the section marked Credibility Indicators. At the bottom of this page is more information about examining the actual URL and domain type of a Web site in order to determine credibility; it’s a good aid in the process of evaluating a site for trustworthiness.
What about citing Internet sources - how do I do it?
There are many resources that are popping up all over the Web to help with this least popular of research-oriented tasks; among the best are the Owl at Purdue’s Formatting and Style Guide. Zotero is a free Firefox extension that helps you to collect, manage, and even cite your research sources – you can even use it to take notes, tag and save searches, or store entire PDF files.
There are lots and lots of auto-citation sites as well (note: you’ll want to double-check your these auto-citations against your assigned style guide; they don’t always catch everything), such as the Citation Machine, CiteBite, which allows you to directly link to quotes on Web pages, and OttoBib, where you can simply enter in the books ISBN and receive an automatic citation – you can even choose from which school of thought you need it from, i.e., MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.
