


That said, they are carefully edited, and the facts would almost always be right. These sites produce enormous amounts of content, although the articles tend to be superficial.Validity: Articles on Demand Media sites are usually written very quickly and are often very short. The content writers are paid low rates, and the work is fact-checked by similarly low-paid professionals. These sites post content based on what people are commonly searching for on the Internet. It might point a student in the right direction, but it should not be directly quoted.Demand Media: Often derided as a “content mill,” Demand Media owns a variety of properties including eHow.com, Answerbag.com and Livestrong.com. This means that right now, you can go in and swap the entry on Henry Blake from “M.A.S.H.” with the one on Henry VIII.Validity: Wikipedia is not a proper source for citations or any real research.
On Yahoo! Answer, however, anyone can answer a question and sometimes questions have multiple, perhaps contradictory, answers.Validity: You simply don’t know the credibility of the person answering, so Yahoo! Answers cannot be considered a valid source.Article by Daniel Kline, EducationWorld ConsultantIt's report card time and you face the prospect of writing constructive, insightful, and original comments on a couple dozen report cards or more. On some of these sites, experts must meet certain qualifications before they can answer. These “guides” work with editors, and the site can generally be considered credible.Yahoo! Answers: Yahoo! Answers is an example of a “question and answer” type of Web site. These “guides” produce lots of overview content on their subject and offer links to other information on the subject.Validity: About.com has a rigorous screening process that ensures the site hires actual experts. For example, a specific writer might oversee About.com’s section on house cats, while another might be in charge of the section on digital cameras.
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