26 Jun 2014
You can't always trust what you read when researching information for homework, assignments or projects.
Here are ways your child can tell a good website - or any document - from a bad one.
Reader beware
With so much information on the web and no-one responsible for fact checking, students need to look out for:
- bias and hidden agendas
- factual errors
- outdated information
- information which is country specific
- commercially motivated information.
Play the detective
Colleen Foley is a curriculum adviser who helps school librarians with the NSW Department of Education and Communities.
She says the teacher librarian and class teachers will help your child develop their research skills online in the library and classroom.
Colleen says the ability to question information is a vital tool for students to use to assess everything the media presents them with each day.
"The reality is anyone can publish anything on the internet."
"You can publish something that looks great but is full of factual errors, for example. Just as any publication – whether it's a book or whatever – can reflect a bias, any website can too."
Find out more about sorting fact from fiction on the School A to Z website.