AJ stands for Andrew Jackson, our 7th president. His reputation for toughness earned him the nickname "Old Hickory." A hero of the War of 1812, Jackson has appeared on the $20 bill since 1928.

Sift the sites

Decide which sites are valuable and which ones are duds. The official website for your search term is usually a safe bet.

Wouldn't it be great if the best site would jump out at you!The problem however, is that anyone can claim to be the official site!

For this specific search, any information you found from the Olympic or United States Bobsled Federation websites should be accurate. If you can't trust the experts, whom can you trust?

Here are some other safe bets:

• .gov—The US government maintains these sites. These are valuable resources for accurate information.
• .org—Organizations like clubs, churches, and non-profits use these sites. Information on these sites is usually from the official source, and usually there is no advertising!
• .edu—Educational facilities use these sites. Chances are the information will be factual, and without advertising.

What about Wikipedia?Wikpedia: Good or Bad?

Wikipedia is described as the “free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.” In other words, the information you find on the site cannot be guaranteed to be accurate.

The adult-language website has a sister site called "Simple Language Wikipedia" for children and people who don't speak English as their first language. You may want to check it out.

But don't use a Wikipedia article as your only research. Use it as a tool to find well-written articles with have links to the sources the authors used.

These links can often be very helpful and are found at the bottom of the article.CloseJust because a site ends in .com does not make it unreliable. If you are unsure about a site's validity, or truth, look for the same data on other sites.

Suppose you run across a shocking piece of information, but you can't seem to confirm it on an official site. Then chances are it's probably not the truth. But to be safe, one site to check something that you're suspicious about is Snopes. 

No matter how perfect a fact might seem for your paper, it won't be much use if it isn't correct. Your teacher will likely be able to detect false information like this, so don't take the chance.

Mission accomplished!

Put it all together

Congratulations! You've:

• Done a specific search with the right engines
• Obtained a long list of sites
• Deleted the bad ones
• Gathered your information
• Made your outline

Now start writing and get that paper out of the way! It may not be time for bobsledding but the weekend's just ahead!

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