Information Sources: Web Sources

The Web contains information published by governments, educational institutions, professional organizations, non-profit groups, commercial enterprises, and private individuals from all over the world.

The Web can be somewhat of a challenge when trying to find credible information for a research paper. Why?

• Search results are ranked by relevancy determined by computer programs
• It is unreliable for getting to peer-reviewed content
• Advertisements and links can be distracting
• Information varies in its accuracy, reliability, purpose and value

Although it is always important to evaluate any information, it is especially important to evaluate information obtained from the Web.

Two of the more popular methods of evaluation are the CARS and CRAAP tests.

Hodges University Library. (2016, December 12). How to use the CRAAP test [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/tVqnamWs91I

The Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) defines "open access" as "a model of scholarly communication that promises to greatly improve the accessibility of results of research. In general terms, scholarly research that is published in open access is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions (although it does require that proper attribution of works be given to authors)".

Dalhousie Libraries. (2020, December 15). Open access publishing [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/xzGT-4wno64