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Online Research

Find out where to look - Google Scholar, Wikipedia and beyond, and what to look for when you're evaluating your results.

Which were hoax sites?

Site 1 BBC News, "Blondes 'to die out in 200 years'" - HOAX
This site is not a hoax, but the report the story is based on is. Even major news outlets, like the BBC, occasionally get fooled into believing, and disseminating, false information. 

Read more about this myth and it's continued popularity at snopes.com and Wikipedia.

Site 2 Martin Luther King, Jr - A True Historical Examination - HOAX
Despite the fact that this site's URL is martinlutherking.org, which would seem to point to a non-profit organization dedicated to Dr. King's legacy, in fact this is a hate site. There is a direct contradition between the labels ("Death of the Dream", "A True Historical Examination", "Learn more about Kwaanza") and the content, most of which is salacious and/or defamatory. Would a site dedicated to Dr. King have a page called "Why the King Holiday Should be Repealed"? 

Site 3 Martin Luther King - Black History - LEGIT
This site is one which actually means what it says, publishing the actual words of Martin Luther King Jr. and promoting an understanding of black history and culture through primary resources.  Visitors are encouraged to experience Dr. King's texts - speeches, poems and other writings - and consider them in the context of "research or general outlook".

Site 4 The National Report - HOAX
This is a good example of a satire site. The intent is not really to fool visitors into thinking they have landed on something like The Huffington Post but are using the style of such sites for humour and commentary.

Site 5 Health-Tourism.com - LEGIT?
This site seems legitimate - they list contact information, an address and phone number, as well as provide specific citations for their information. However, the parent company, Find Global Care Ltd, has only a rudimentary website and the only listing for them online is in Wikimedia Company - a site in which anyone can set up a listing. Nowhere on the site are the names or credentials of the employees of the company listed. This is troublesome on a site giving advice on where to go for medical procedures. The site looks legitimate, but very dubious in its authenticity or authority.