In Aliso Viejo, the city council proposed a law to deal with the "dangers" of dihydrogen monoxide because of this web site. "It's embarrassing.  We had a paralegal who did bad research," said City Manager David J. Norman. What is dihydrogen monoxide? We usually call it water!

The responsibility of evaluating a web site falls on you, so be sure to examine web sites beyond how "well designed" it looks.

Accuracy: It is important to find the source of the information provided. Can you independently verify the facts or content? Are there references listed?
 
Authority: Who wrote or created the content? What qualifications do they have? Can you verify it? Is there contact information?

Currency: When was the web site created? Last updated? Is the content current?

Point of View: Does that content represent a single point of view? Whose perspective is given? Any opposing information presented? Is there advertising or are they selling something?

Reliability: Is the web site stable? Studies have shown that the half-life of a Web page is less than two years.

"50% of the web sites you cite your Freshman year at CSULB will be gone from the Internet by the time you are a Junior! That's why its a good idea to print the first page of a web site you are going to use for a class assignment because you never know when it will disappear."