I found Michael’s guide to checking the quality of web sources to be a valuable tool. Although I am surprised to say it has been a few years now, when I attended University things were a little different. When I was researching information on the web, I was using credible search engines, from the University library sites that were peer reviewed and scholarly when gathering information. Of course I was always looking to see who the author or publisher was to validate that the content I was reading was actually truthful, but using the resources I did, made it easier to discern against unreliable sources of information.

I have not had a lot of experience with fact checking organizations but through this activity and reading other’s posts, my awareness and knowledge has grown significantly. There is so much false information on the web, whether it be through social media or sites found on any of the main search engines, and I think it is a important skill to be able to check the truthfulness and credibility of the information you read.

Michael’s guide has not only given me some great tools to use to check the quality of web sources, but also opened my eyes to the large amount of unsupported information out there. Going forward, I realize the absolute need to fact check anything I come across, especially with regard to my scholastic needs.