When we were asked about finding the source materials for assignments, there are so many sources that we can find. Internets, magazines, books, journals and newspapers are examples of source materials. From these sources, students gain benefits which helps them gaining information and knowledge.
These days, there are a lot of less reliable sites which were used as social networks sites such as blogs, group discussion forums, Yahoo answers and Wiki answers. These sites are usually very fast to detect from the search engines, and easy for students to understand, but these sites are providing information which are not useful for us especially the students to use it as our most reliable facts and information.
Therefore, the source materials must be valid, reliable and credible (trustworthy). When we look and search for something, we have to look at it critically. Check them first, try to understand the contents, and make sure whether it is correct or not.
But, how to make sure that sources are valid, reliable and credible?
These are the general guidelines when we search sources materials through the internet. First, look at their URL addresses. Some official websites have domains such as gov, org, edu and ac are mostly trustworthy. However, we must also be aware because sometimes, people or agencies may use these domains for their official websites as their personal websites. They may put facts and their opinions into it as well.
Second, we have to make sure that the contents from these websites are valid. Try to understand the contents and make sure the articles or journals were made by experts. Author's credential also can be known, and whether they are affiliated to any company. Most journals and articles are cited with references. Besides, we should know who are the articles referred and written to. Articles that containing a lot of negative criticisms and prejudices must be avoided.
Lastly, the currency of the articles and journals are also important for us to use it as guidelines.
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