With resources like Google at our fingertips, information isn't hard to find. What is challenging is determining whether that information is credible and can be trusted. Is it factual? Biased? Relevant to your topic?
A Google search is often our first stop to gain a basic understanding of the main ideas of a topic, but since anyone with access to a computer can publish anything online, it is crucial that you evaluate the information you find, especially when completing a research paper, or looking for important information (like health or financial information).
Web sources can be particularly hard to evaluate, so here is a handy acronym to help you determine if a source may be CRAP.
The National Academies Press (NAP) publishes authoritative reports issued by The National Academies.
Mechanical Engineering is the flagship publication of ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers).