Searching the web offers great rewards, such as:

. Access to information and data on just about every topic under the sun!
. Quick references from resources and experts all over the world.
. Statistics and comparisons on topics and issues of interest.

Risks Associated with Search.

. Authentication of Online Information

Traditionally, when looking for information, we seek out trusted sources, We trust material that has been published by public institutions, written by experts or recommended by information specialists, like librarians and teachers.

The Internet is different. Anyone and everyone can be a publisher on the Internet. Anyone can appear to be an "expert". Traditional resources have proofreaders, fact checkers, peer reviewers and professional editors. All of whom do the job of authenticating the information for us. The Internet has no such services. It is our job to decide which information sources are good and reliable, and which ones are not.


Mitigating Risks Associated with Search.

To access reliable and truthful information, you need to master the following skills.

. How to find good information.

You can look up information on the world wide web by using the http format (hyper text transfer protocol), which basically entails writing the domain name and domain category of the site (page) you want to go to, such as www.intaj.net

Search engines compile their databases by employing "spiders" or "robots" to crawl through web space from link to link, identifying and perusing pages. Sites with no links to other pages may be missed by spiders altogether. Once the spiders get to a web site, they typically index most of the words on the publicly available pages at the site. Web page owners may submit their URLs to search engines for "crawling" and eventual inclusion in their databases.

. How to question and evaluate online sources.

Web Searches usually produce hundreds of results, and many Web sites that sound legitimate may be anything but.

To determine wheher the sources of information that resulted from your search are legitimate or not, you need to closely examine the following:

. Authorship.
Ask yourself the following: "Does the author have the authority to present this information?"

. Purpose,
Ask yourself the following: "What is the purpose of the Web site?" Has it been created to provide information, or promote its own products? Does the author or the publishing organization have anything to gain by making this information available?

. Perspective.
Ask yourself the following: "Is the information consistent with other published material on the topic?" The information you find on a government health site, for instance, may be quite different from that offered by a pharmaceutical company.

. presentation:
Check spelling and grammar and the overall "professional" form of the source.