At the last count there were over two million web servers. This means is that if a web server contains as much text as a library (as it might), one has at one's disposal incomprehensible amounts of material. The hurdle to overcome with web navigation is not lack of facts; rather the ability to collate data which is relevant amongst the exabytes available ('exa' = x10¹⁸). Considering the amount of information already on the web it is safe to assume that the vast majority of human knowledge is available on it somewhere. This unfortunately means that a great part of the work being added to it every second is either repetitious, or wrong.

As with most information one can only guess at reliability. One might be inclined to judge one newspapers 'facts' as superior to another's. Likewise with Internet resources a judgement has to be made. An experienced user will have their list of 'Favourites'; i.e. sites that they can usually rely on to deliver what they desire. These might be games, music, or any amount of things that can be judged by their results. Information, reliable information, however, is much more difficult to judge without cross-referencing, personal observation or trusted endorsement.

A fourth indicator of reliability in any field of information is motive. One may speculate what gains, if any, are to be made by an entity that promotes a certain way of thinking. In looking at the fuel blockade one might imagine that there are vested interests that stand to gain were a reduction in fuel duty to be bought about.

Bearing in mind these indicators, several sites were explored, and different aspects of their utility were rated. Though highly subjective, the table does indicate the order and degree of preference that the author would endorse when seeking information for the essay, and does, too a degree, justify itself.

The sites were found through the Yahoo Search Engine, by asking for web pages containing the exclusive phrases of the names of the newspapers or organisations. Failure through this method led to a search 'down' through the categories, but this only resulted in incorrect hits, such as the Australian Daily Telegraph, and didn't yield any extra information.

Once on a site it was established if it had it's own search capability. The words 'Fuel', 'Blockade', 'Petrol' and 'Crisis' were all combined in searches. Particular note was taken of the time taken, the ease the author felt with navigation, the scope of subject matter and the percentage of the screen that was taken up by relevant information. Judgements about reliability were made using educated guesses, though spelling, format and known facts were considered. The results, tabulated below were added to give each site a 'score', whence they were sorted in order of preference.

The policy of the Guardian might be criticised as 'left wing'. A Socialist might call the Guardian 'informed'. I would assume the latter on the basis that, bar conviction, there is no real motive for it to be otherwise. The BBC is a proven reliable major media source. For the sake of balance two 'Dump the Pump' sites were explored. One had a notice board to which you could send messages, but not view. Some downloading was detected during connection to this site. Whether this was paranoia, or not, did not take alter the total lack of information. The second was the visual equivalent of a radio phone-in, but was refreshing in its low-tech approach (Though the impression was given that gimmicks would have been used if available!).

Many sites viewed were unsatisfactory for various reasons, most commonly; too many graphics, not enough text, advert or recreation led, poorly organised and lack of archive links.

If one were to view a single site for geographical information, of the ones surveyed, it would be the DETR site. As regards vehicle and air quality statistics (amongst many others) this site has the raw data for most other work. Downloadable tables and charts are sometimes awkward to manipulate, but are a godsend in assimilating hard facts.

The frustrations of waiting several minutes for nothing to turn up and the appearance of adverts before text frustrates. Self-congratulatory, "professionally produced" sites are a pain to sift through. The researcher does not need clever little applets and downloads to speed his task, so sites such as the DETR are a pleasure to use compared with the majority. Even the BBC contrives to make over 50% of its screen factually redundant.

The Internet is still relatively novel, and the availability of some resources is restricted. The Oxford Economic Associates site only served to advertise what they sold. Nevertheless, as time wears on more and more resources on the web are free (One year ago Ordnance Survey Maps were impossible to download legally and systematically. Streetmap.com now provide them), so we can anticipate an increase in available free information.

The BBC and DETR sites are established favourites. This research has not revealed any new 'bankers' (sites which will be automatically referenced). Along with the Guardian they were useful source of information for the essay, but the Internet cannot be judged without comparison to other resources.

The local library keeps newspapers for a year, and as much information on the national attitude towards the blockade could be gleaned from glancing through the headlines as during hours of Internet searching. The striking photographs on the front pages of those papers also indicated the situation very well.

The ultimate resource is first hand experience. The Internet sites used served well to inspire lines of deduction, and ultimately confirmed some initial thoughts as to the nature of the blockade.

Used well, the available Internet materials can provide a powerful and deep reserve of ammunition for the researcher. Geography embraces many subjects. This human interface with the environment encompasses physics, chemistry, sociology, engineering, mathematics and aspects of a great many more subjects. Unlike a more focused topic, such as maths, no one site can give the geographer all his or her answers. The web is useful in that it does give the Geographer a broad palette with which to select their information. Like any media it can be abused deliberately or unwittingly, and no single site should be expected to provide definitive facts. The use of several sites can provide alternative views. Though consensus is a fine thing it is often achieved by taking into account the selfish, misguided or mistaken. Whatever one's discipline, the ability to spot these is a function of work and experience. It would be hoped that systematic searching and realistic deduction could maximise the chances of establishing reliable results.