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| Appraising the Source of Information |
4. Other factors
At times, the writing style of certain books might not suit you. See if the text is easily accessible.
By reading a review of the book you might also be able to tell whether a book is going to be useful to you, or suitable for your purpose. It should be possible to locate reviews of the book, or details on the author by using the internet.
Information on the internet
For sure, in this day and age, not as much research is done using books as it once was. Nowadays, a lot of people rely on information they find on the internet. Do you know whether the websites you’re using for your research are reliable? A lot of the same considerations apply when surfing for information on the internet as when consulting a book in the library.
 Think about the source
Find out if it is a primary source. Note, it is possible to get a lot of up-to-date data and statistics and other kinds of information directly from primary sources on the internet. For instance, government departments which have compiled information often have it available on their websites.
Find out whether the website has integrity. Is it somehow associated with an institution or authority? At times links also provide clues to this as a respectable or prestigious website, it is unlikely to trade or post links from sites which are unreliable.
Citing and sources
Do not forget to quote your sources whether you’ve used books or the internet to do your research and write your project, paper or essay. You might have to cite your sources in the body of your work, or it might be enough to simply add a bibliography. Make it clear where your information comes from – this protects you and shows the work and effort you’ve put into the research.
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