Evaluating Resources

The Internet can lead you to wonderful, inventive sites that are great sources of information. The Internet can also lead you to misleading, inaccurate, or totally bogus information. Your ability to tell good sites from bad is an important skill. Several criteria useful for evaluating information found on the Internet appears below. Not only are these criteria useful for evaluating Internet resources, but you can also apply them to virtually any information resource including books and periodicals.

Remember, if you are unsure about the quality of information you find on the Internet, ask your instructor or a librarian for assistance before using the site for your research or assignment.

Consider the following criteria: 

• Accuracy/Reliability
• Relevance
• Timeliness
• Authority
• Comprehensiveness
• Objectivity

Click here for tips on where to look on individual web pages for information to support your analysis and evaluation.

Accuracy, Reliability - How reliable and free from error is the information?

Evaluate:

• Is the information accurate?
• Do editors verify facts and correct spelling and grammar?
• Are the sources of information documented? Is a list of works cited or bibliography provided? Are links to these materials provided?
• Can you verify the information provided by checking other sources such as books and periodicals.
• How does the information fit with your existing knowledge on the topic?

Sample Sites:

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Relevance, Comprehensiveness - What topics are included? Is the information appropriate for your information need? Does the page provide enough depth for your needs?

Evaluate:

• Who is the intended audience for this site?
• Is the information useful?
• Does it make a significant addition to your research?
• Are the topics included explored in depth?
• Is coverage appropriate for your needs?
• Is original information presented, or are other documents and links simply repackaged?

Sample Sites:

 

Weather Dude	Occlusion Research
Fly Like Birds	Active Aeroelastic Wing (AAW)
Critters of the Outdoor Campus	South Dakota Gap Analysis Project

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Timeliness - Is the content of the work up-to-date?

Evaluate:

• Are dates clearly presented to the reader?
• Is the meaning of the dates provided explicitly stated?
     On what date was the information first written or created?
     On what date was the information placed on the Internet?
     On what date was the information last revised?
• Are the links active and kept current?

Sample Sites:

 

Merriam-Webster Dictionary	Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 Edition
The Columbia World of Quotations	Familiar Quotations: A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature, 10th edition
The New York Times	The Historic New York Times Project

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Authority - What are the author's qualifications for writing on this subject?

Evaluate:

• Can the author of the site be easily identified?
• Is the author a known and respected organization (corporate, government, or non-profit)?
• Does information about the author demonstrate her or his education, training, affiliations, and/or experience in a field relevant to the information?
• Is contact information provided for the author (address, e-mail address, etc.)?
• Can the information presented about the author be verified in other sources such as printed reference tools (Who's Who, etc.)?
• What is the relationship between the author and the sponsor/publisher?
• Is it a personal home page or an official page from an organization or other institution? Web pages with /~name/ in their URL's may actually be personal home pages. The information may not be less authoritative, but you may wish to give the page some additional scrutiny.
• Is the author the original creator of the information?
• What information can be inferred from the site's URL to determine sponsorship of the site? For example:

     non-profit organization=.org
     government department or agency=.gov, .state.xx.us (for example, .state.sd.us = South Dakota)
     educational institution=.edu
     commercial entity=.com
     internet service provider=.net
     military affiliation=.mil
     country code=.xx (for example, .au = Australia or .kr = Korea)
    

Sample Sites:

 

Illegal Immigration is a Crime	Immigration from the U.S. Census Bureau
Death Clock	POPClock
Secondhand Smoke: The Big Lie	Health Hazards of Tobacco: Some Facts
The Doctors' Medical Library	HealthWeb

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Objectivity - Is the information presented with a minimum of bias?

Evaluate:

• To what extent is the information presented an attempt to sway the opinion of the reader?
• Is the information biased?
• Are various sides of the topic or issue presented?
• Is the site used to sell or advertise a product or service?
• Who sponsors the site? Governmental or educational sites are less likely to present biased information than company or organizational are. (Use the domain name at the end of the address to determine, e.g., .edu, .gov, .com, .net, .org, .mil, etc.)

Sample Sites:
 

Handgun Control and the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence	The National Rifle Association of America
Ben and Jerry's Thoughts About Bovine Growth Hormone	Bovine Somatotrophin-Related Documents
The Darker Side of Tanning	Frequently Asked Questions About Indoor Tanning and Health

Where to find the answers

Well designed web pages usually share some characteristics:

Header/Footer - Information at the top or bottom of each web page should be provided. This should include the author's name, affiliation, and contact information (electronic or traditional).

Links - Links to the home page of the document and, possibly, links to other relevant portions of the site should be easily located. Links should be working and up-to-date.

Dates - Dates indicating when the information was originally created, placed on the Internet, and/or last revised should be included. An explanation of each date should be included.

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