RELIABLE

QUESTIONABLE

Non-profit, government or educational organizations.  Their Internet addresses end in .edu, .org, .gov, or a country abbreviation such as .us or .uk.

Commercial organizations may be advertising to sell a product.  Their Internet address usually ends in .com.

Expert authors.  They have degrees or experience in their field that makes them an expert.

Anonymous authors or authors without identifiable credentials.  The reader doesn’t know about them or their motivations.

Documented sources.  They cite their sources and have bibliographies.

Undocumented sources.  Where did they get their information?

Reliable print sources online.  Online copies of Newsweek, Time, etc., from the publisher or in a full-text index are just as reliable as the print versions.

Lengthy quotations from Newsweek, Time, etc., may be edited in a biases or inaccurate manner.

Date-appropriate sources.  You can check the date of the posted information and it is appropriate for the topic.  For many topics, currency is critical.

Out-of-date sources.  You can’t find or check the date of the information.  The information is old.  The site isn’t updated regularly.