You may not hear a lot of information professionals say this, but there is good, quality, credible information on the web. Finding this information within the morass of advertisements and misleading news stories presents challenges, but it is not impossible.
For example -
Using a Wikipedia as a source is not a great strategy, but there are acceptable uses.
Typing keywords into Google and scrolling through thousands of results is not a great strategy, but there are acceptable uses.
WAIT! WOAH WOAH WOAH! What is Open Access and how can I use it to find freely available, quality research online?
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At it's most fundamental, Open Access (OA) refers to free, unrestricted online access to research outputs such as journal articles, books, and theses. OA content is open to all, and ensures that anyone can access and use these results.
The unrestricted distribution of research is especially important for authors as their work gets seen my more people, and readers as they can access and build on the most recent work in the field.
For more information and links to so much more information, see Peter Suber's overview of Open Access: http://legacy.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/overview.htm
