Using blogs and other website sources for academic purposes

In response to a student asking about using a webpage as a reference,   I found this page from the official APA Style Blog

It is important to remember that much/most of what exists on the Internet is not considered academic.

Anyone can post anything,  and this may not be true,  accurate, or supported.     Alarm bells always ring for me when there is not identifiable author or organization for a webpage/web article.     It is even more vital to be a critical reader when doing research on the Internet.  A Canadian Writer's Reference (5th edition) provides useful advice about evaluating web sources on pages 355-357.  

This graphic from  http://libguides.frostburg.edu/content.php?pid=263617&sid=2177956#7360303

also provides a handy  framework for guiding academic use of internet sources.

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