URLs: domain codes
A URL will always take the following form: service_name://host.domain_name.domain_code/directory/filename
If there is no author identified in the web resource you are looking at, the top level domain code (.com, .org, etc.) can often provide some hints regarding the credibility of a resource:
| .edu | Educational institution. It is important to note that many students and faculty members may have personal pages affiliated with the institution. With this in mind, it is important to note that the educational insitution may not necessarily endorse the view published by these individuals |
| .com | Commercial entity. Companies advertise, sell products, and publish annual reports amongst other company information. |
| .gov | Government. Governments use the web to publish legislation, census info, weather, tax, passport forms, etc. Government mediated websites are typically quite reliable. |
| .org | Non-profit organization. These groups use the web to promote causes. These kinds of sources can be good to use when comparing different sides of an important issue. |
| .net | Company involved in internet services. These sources are often questionable, unmoderated or unregulated. |
| .biz | Code that definitely identifies a business. This newer top level domain code has not caught on among businesses, who tend to prefer the widely recognized .com |
Pull up the green bar below to check out the differences between different top level domain codes: First type in http://www.whitehouse.gov This is the official site of the President of the United States. Now change the domain to .net. This is the site of a humorous Web resource that was originally developed as a parody of the official site by an advertising agency.
