You are of course free to utilize information obtained from web sites in your research project. You have already surfed some of the sites linked to the course homepage, but for this assignment I would like you to search for additional sites relevant to your topic.

Select a site that looks potentially useful for you and evaluate it. (If you can’t locate one, you may use one of the ones linked to the course homepage.) Evaluating web sites can be tricky. Whereas print sources generally cannot be published without passing through a fairly extensive process of expert evaluation and review that guarantees a basic level of reliability, material on the WWW often lacks that guarantee. But that in turn means taking the trouble to assess a site is especially important.

Some questions to consider in evaluating a site:

• What type of a site is it, and who maintains or sponsors it (a company? a university? a scholarly organization? an advocacy group? a government agency? a non-profit organization? a news organization? an information service? an individual?)? What do you know about the reputation or credentials of the individuals and institutions involved? (Many sites include information about the history and mission of the sponsor.) How scholarly is the site?
• Have you arrived at the site by following a link from another site you have reason to regard as reputable and reliable? 
• When was the site last updated? Is it updated regularly? Do links to other sites work?
• Based on what you know of the topic, does the information on the site seem to be comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-date? Does the site contain references or a bibliography, and if so, are these comprehensive and up-to-date?
• Is the text on the site well-written, free of grammar and spelling errors?
• Has the site received awards? If so, for what and from whom?