You are doing a class project. It takes you 2 weeks of class time to collect the information you need. You finally get it finished and then its time for your teacher to collect your work. Whe she hands it back to you she asks you where you got your information. She tells you that a lot of your information is incorrect! How can this be…

Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia. It has information on so many topics and always seems to have information that we need. But did you know that ANYONE can put information on Wikipedia? Thousands of people from all around the world use this site and any one of us can edit or add information. The information is not always correct or ‘accurate’. This means there is always a risk that the information you are using may not be correct. It is always best to check your information at a reliable site- like the ones your teacher gives to you.

 Firstly, if your teacher has given you links to some useful sites stay with them. You will find them to be most useful. 

Here are some skills that you can use to make you a more effective searcher!

1.  Stay on the sites that have been given to you by your teacher.
2. If you are given a topic and you are using a search engine, carefully choose your keywords.
3. Use the Advanced Search to include any other important details in your search (and those things you don’t want in your results!)
4. ALWAYS TURN ON THE SAFE SEARCH. This is the most important point to remember when you use Google. It is part of our Internet Usage Agreement to use the Internet Safely. No more do we search without using a ’strict’ or ’safe’ search.