Most books you find in library nonfiction are credible.

Most large newspapers are credible.◦ New York Times◦ Washington Post

Scholarly journals are usually credible.◦ JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association)

Most government publications are credible. Reputable organizations are usually credible.

◦ American Cancer Society◦ American Red Cross◦ World Health Organization

Most information from colleges is credible.◦ .edu websites

You can automatically rule out:• Wikipedia• Facebook• Blogs• Personal sites

Ways to tell a credible internet source:• Looks professional

All or most links are working• Information offered is easy to verify

The website offers links to where they found their information

The sources of their information is also credible

• It is easy to contact the owners of the website for more information or to ask questions

• The site is up to date Information from 2000 is not listed as “recent”

• There are no errors The site uses proper spelling and grammar

• The website is appropriate There is no inappropriate language, graphics, or

photos

When in doubt, ask for help from a teacher or librarian

If you’re still not sure, DON’T use it Be careful with .com sites

• All .com sites are trying to sell something, which means they are all biased in some way

• Sites with lots of advertisements are usually less credible

Citation makers will write your works cited page for you if you have the right information on your sourcesBooks, articles, and websites are all cited differentlyThe more information you have, the betterWhen you find a source that you think you can use, you need to make sure you have several things

Your checklist:◦ Author◦ Title◦ Publication company◦ Publication location◦ Publication date◦ Page numbers◦ Date accessed online◦ Editor◦ ENTIRE web address

You might not always be able to find all of this information, but get as much as you can.

Go to Citation Machine http://citationmachine.net/

Click on “MLA” at the top left of the page.

Click on the type of source you want to cite.

Fill in the boxes for your source. Click “Submit”.

Voila!  Your citation is written.