Online Searching and Researching

It is very important to be able to determine whether sources are credible. One example of something that I have already put into practice is asking myself questions about the article I am reading to make sure it is credible. I try to evaluate the article and determine its reliability, quality, and utility. Reliability is established with proper contact info, credentials, reputation, and peer reviews. Quality is established with consistency, proper grammar, citations, but can be ruined with broad generalizations, bias, and age. Utility is established with details, an appropriate audience, and strong relation to the topic being researched. Another idea that I could put into practice in the future is to use metasearches to compile sources from various search engines. This will help me by making my research easier and less time consuming. The advice I would give to students, based off of what I have experienced, is to make sure your source is credible before using it in your research and getting bad information. The credibility of your sources is of the utmost importance because if your sources are not credible, the paper you write will not be accurate.