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LEARNA: Websites

Use websites with caution

Websites can provide evidence to support your work.  

Many good quality sources such as academic institutions, government departments and charities use the internet to make information available quickly and freely.

You will need to spend more time assessing the quality of the information you find via a web search than you will peer-reviewed books and journals.

Top tips for evaluating online information

  • Trace all claims/statistics back to the original source, things can often be taken out of context.
  • Make sure you know who the author is and that they are reliable.
  • Look out for spelling or grammar mistakes on web pages, these are sign that the source is not very good.
  • Make sure you know when the information was written and that it is currently relevant.

SIFT

Welcome to SIFT, an evaluation method designed by Mike Caulfield.

nfographic showing the steps of SIFT: Stop, investigate the source, find trusted coverage, trace claims, quotes and media to the original context.

The SIFT method was created by Mike Caulfield, this page is adapted from materials with a CC BY 4.0 license.