Questions to Ask for Evaluating Websites:

What is the URL?

• Determine the type of website/domain type.

○ Is it a .com (commercial) or .net (network- business) site?

May be reliable, but may also may contain “sales” bias.

○ Is it .org (non-profit)? Usually reliable, but may contain bias.

○ Is it .edu (educational)? Considered most reliable.

○ Is it .gov or .mil (government)? Official government information.

Does the web page contain information consistent with the domain type?

• Determine if it is a personal page.

○ Does the URL contain a directory or subdirectory that begins with a (~) and looks like a person’s name?

○ Does what looks like a person’s name, follow a directory called "/users/" or "/people/?"

IF it looks to be a personal page, Investigate the author carefully.

Who is the author?

• Can you determine who wrote the website?

○ Is there an author’s name?

○ Is the author well known or reputable?

○ Are the author’s credentials (position, institutional affiliation, address) listed or linked from the site?

(Look for About Us, Background, Bio, etc.)

○ Did you link to this site from a trusted site? OR Was this author recommended from another site?

IF the author can not be identified, or none of the above is true, look for ways (email, telephone) to request more information about the author!

What is the point of view?

• What is the purpose of the website?

○ Is the information neutral with a minimum of bias?

○ Is the authorship or affiliation, political or designed to persuade opinion?

○ Is the site affiliated with a corporation, which is promoting itself or its products?

Always keep in mind who is providing the information and what their motives might be!

What is the overall quality of information?

• Is the information current?

○ Is the page dated?

○ Does the site include the date in which information was gathered?

○ Is there a last updated date for the site?

• Is the information reliable?

○ Where did the author find the information?

○ Are the sources documented and reliable?

○ Are there links to other pages as sources, which are reliable?

○ Are the the links current and do they work?

Using the criteria above, I have evaluated the following two websites.

1. http://www.martinlutherking.org/

This is a .org site indicating that it is a non-profit organization.

The domain name is consistent with the page content.

The site does not identify an author and there is no information about author credential.

There is also no contact information in order to find information about the author.

The site is sponsored by stormfront.org. Upon examination, this is a racist, white supremacy group.

The page is not dated and there is no last updated information provided.

The format quality looks good and legitimate; however, information is biased and persuasive.

All links lead to unreliable and disturbing information.

This is not a legitimate reliable source of information.

2. http://www.thekingcenter.org/Default.aspx

This is a .org site, indicating it is a non-profit organization.

The domain name is consistent with the page content.

The site does not identify an author, but the institutional affiliation information is available on the site.

There is contact information to find out information about the website and the institution.

The site’s stated purpose is dedicated to the legacy of Martin Luther King.

The page has a copyright date, but no last updated date. Links and contact information are current.

The format quality looks good; the information is informative.

There are many working links to reliable sources.

This is a reliable source of information.