Indians of North America: Websites

It's important to evaluate any information you find, especially information you find on the Internet. Unlike books and magazines, which use editors, proofreaders, and fact checkers, there is often no one to check the quality and reliability of Internet information. Since virtually anyone can publish just about anything on the Internet, it's critical to evaluate it carefully. Here are some questions you should ask of every information source you find:

 WHO?

• Who is the person or organization who created the information?

• Does that person or organization have appropriate qualifications or expertise?

WHAT?

• What is the nature of the information?

•  Is it objectively written or is it biased in some way?

• Is it based on balanced and careful research or is it trying to sell a product or a particular point of view?

WHEN?

• When was the information written or updated? 

• Is it appropriately current for your research?

 Limit your search to a specific type of domain by typing site:edu for education or site:gov for government

Example: lymphoma site:gov

 Word order matters so use the most important words first.

Example: blue sky brings back different results than sky blue

 Advanced search allows Google to search a single specific web site for all the occurrences of a keyword or phrase.