The Most Credible Sources on the Internet

The recent developments in health, financial status in the country, as well as the recent trends in fashion and gadgets keep the people stay on-line in the Internet to get information updates. People want to get updated immediately nowadays in what is happening around in his or her environment. Aside from the mentioned reasons for using the Internet, some schools nowadays are also using the Internet as a medium of teaching. Students also use the Internet as source of information and data for assignments, research papers, and reference for written reports. It looks like the Internet plays a very important role in information dissemination and as well as source of information. But how can a person be sure that the information taken from the Internet was reliable and from a trustworthy source. How can a person find the most credible sources on the Internet?

There are so many websites in the Internet that give numerous data and information. Sometimes, Internet users are unaware that the information given is misleading and merely a fake. The problem is that it becomes difficult to determine whether the given information is reliable or credible. However, the saddest part is that the user will more likely believe the presented information not knowing whether it is reliable or not. To determine the most credible sources on the Internet, there are a few factors that should be considered and should be checked before taking the contents and information from the Internet.

The first thing to check about the internet source is the author/s and publisher. A credible source on the internet would have a known author/s and publisher. This will give the user the idea about the primary source of the information. The most credible source on the internet provides contact details of the author/s to the users, in case that the users have a question or a clarification about the content. For professional sources, users should take note that the professional home pages and professional journals are included in the website. Another factor to check is the date that the internet source was created or much better if the date updated is also included. This ensures that the source is not only reliable, but also valid and within an acceptable timeframe. Finally, the coverage as well as the accuracy and verifiability of the contents should be comparable to a well-known reliable source. The user should also check relative information from other internet sources, and should not rely on just one source of information.

The definition of the most credible source on the internet source may vary depending on purpose and usefulness of the information needed by the user. For research paper of students, the definition of a credible source should follow the factors as previously mentioned. However, there are different reasons for searching and using internet information. There are internet users that search for on line shopping, news, music and movie downloads, encyclopedias, books, travel, and a lot more other reasons. The most credible sources on the internet for each of these categories are defined in a different way. The credibility of some of these sources is based on the user's feedback, which affects the rating of the given information as shown in the website itself.

Generally, the internet provides a lot of information. And people are in constant search for different types of information depending on the person's need. The internet is a tool that provides that need of the people in a given short period of time. The most credible sources on the internet generally satisfy the need of the user, and at the same time, providing assurance to the user that the information is useful and reliable.

Credible References

  1. The Almanac News
  2. Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
  3. Bibliomania
  4. Electronic Text Cente
  5. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online
  6. Free Internet Encyclopedia
  7. How Stuff Works
  8. Merriam-Webster Online
  9. Online Books Page
  10. Thesaurus.com
  11. World Book Encyclopedia