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Searching the Internet Wisely

Ask: What do they RISK by giving you misleading information?
Institutions that have a reputation to risk are more apt to be careful about the authority and integrity of information they share and promote.
Ask: What do they GAIN by getting you to act on their information?

Consider whether an information provider will gain or lose more if their information gets you to act.

If the gain is significantly higher than the potential risk from using biased information, take that into consideration.

Diet Supplements, Propaganda, Scams, and "Too good to be true" exaggerations are high gain, low risk. Such websites are often temporary. If you send in your money and don't get a anything, it is hard to track down a company that has been dissolved already.

University, College, Hospital, and Government exaggerations are high risk, low gain. Questionable content is quickly questioned by their customers, constituents, and competitors. Embarrassment may lead to distrust, which is not worth the risk to their reputation. Besides services offered, reputation and cost are driving factors keeping these institutions in business.

Evaluating Sources
We encourage people to always use multiple sources of information and to look for objective content to avoid confirmation bias. Check out the RADAR RAVEN C.C.R.R.A.A.P.P. Tests Note: Keep track of resources so you can cite them later. This can be done easily by emailing resource results to your email account and keeping them in a separate email folder.

FIND: Articles, books, videos, etc.: Internet Search Tools

Searching the Internet Wisely

USA.gov: Best place to look for Government Information.

Data.gov:

Google search site:.gov

USA.gov

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