Reliable Source Quiz

Which resource would have the MOST current information about presidents of the United States?

• an encyclopedia

• an article written in 2008

• a book called American Presidents, copyright 2000

• "whitehouse.gov", updated daily

What is a sign that a website might have trustworthy information? (choose the two best responses)

• 
  the author is an expert

• the information comes from an unknown source

• 
  it is not clear who the author is

• 
  the information is current

Which of the following is a clue that the source is NOT reliable?

• 
  date of last update is given

• 
  author is listed

• 
  lots of spelling & grammar errors

• 
  URL ends in .gov

• page contains lots of advertising

Web pages that provide citations of the sources used to create the site makes the web page more credible.

• True

• False

You can tell that a website is associated with a college or university if the URL ends with

• .com

• .gov

• .edu

• .org

Critically evaluating content on the Web is important because

• web authors are always less professional

• anyone can put stuff on the internet

• 
  web authors are always biased

• printed information is always more accurate

Which of the following is the best indicator that a Web article is reliable? (choose the two best responses)

• the author tells you the information is reliable

• the author links to his or her favorite Web sites

• the author states the site was proofread by a librarian

• the site provides the author's credentials and explains why he/she is an expert

• the author tells you where he/she got the information

The first Google results are usually the most reliable.

• True

• 
  False

More reliable sources display a citation list indicating where the information came from.

• True

• False

What questions should you ask when determining the RELEVANCE of a source? (choose the two best responses)

• does this information answer my question?

• 
  is the information supported by evidence?

• 
  what are the author's qualifications?

• 
  is it written at a level I can understand?