Criteria
Questions To Ask:
Things To Look For:
Authority:
Who wrote this page?
Does this person/organization have the necessary qualifications?
What does the URL address tell you? Is this a professional, educational, or personal web page? For more information about URL, click here.
Is it copyrighted? By whom?
What is the contact address? Is it an email or a physical address?
Who sponsors or publishes this page?
What does the domain name tell you?
To evaluate authority criteria:
Checkout the World Health Organization Web Site and answer questions above. What type of domain do you think ".int" is??
Accuracy:
What are the sources?
Where did they get their information? Are sources documented? Can you find footnotes or links to other documentation?
If information is reproduced from another site, is it complete? Is it copyrighted?
- Are there links to other sources?
Are the sources well-known and reliable? Who publishes the page? (Check the first part of the URL)
Double check the original source, if the information has been re-typed, it could also have been altered.
- Do the links work?
To evaluate accuracy criteria:
Find the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus and double check the site's accuracy.
Does the site link to credible sources?
Objectivity:
What is the purpose?
Are the goals of the site: to educate, to sell, to persuade; or are the goals unclear?
Is the information of the page without bias or prejudice? Are they stating facts or opinions?
Is there any advertising? Is it separate from the information?
- What is the "tone" of the page? Is it scholarly or salesman-ish? Could it be exaggerated? Or are they making fun?
Where did the site originate? Try this: In the address box at the top of the page, remove the end of the URL address back to the last "/" (leave the slash). This is called "truncating" the URL. If it does not work the first time, repeat the "truncating" procedure.
What do others say? Go to Google and type "link:" (without quotation marks) and then add the entire URL address (you can cut and paste it). If you have no hits, try a shorter version or "truncate" the URL address.
To evaluate objectivity:
Visit FurShame, are they being objective?
What do others think about PETA?
Currency:
When was this page created?
Did the author list a date when he originally placed the page on the Web as well as a date when he last revised the page?
Is there any indication that the page has been updated?
Are graphs or charts dated?
When was the page last updated?
Do all the links work? Are there any "dead" links?
Is the information still useful? Are the sources still valid?
To evaluate currency:
Click on the Cohen Group list of links.
Did you find any "dead" links?
Coverage:
Does it all add up?
How detailed is the information? Did it thoroughly examine your topic?
Is this site unique? Have you found this information anywhere else?
- Would you consider this site valuable to your research?
Do the links and/or images compliment the content?
Is the information presented clearly and cited correctly?
Has there been an effort made to update the information and links?
To evaluate coverage:
Examine carefully the BTS Home Page.
How important is this site?