Evaluating Web Sources
Currently, the largest search engine, Google, claims to have a searchable database of over three billion web pages. While being able to search that many pages makes it easy to find information on just about any topic on the web, it also makes it increasingly difficult to find good, reliable sources. The following criteria should help you in deciding what sources to use, especially when doing scholarly research. Evaluation Criteria
1. Authority- Who is responsible for the web site on which the web page resides?
- Are there any clues on the web page about the parent site? Look for a logo or icon that may be a link to the main web site.
- Is there a way to contact the organization, company or person responsible for the contents of the site?
- Is the web site an educational site (.edu), a commercial site (.com), a nonprofit organization (.org) or a government site (.gov)?
- Does the site list any recommendations or ratings from outside sources?
- What is the background of the author of the web site?
- Is the author an expert in the field, a student or an organization?
- Has the author provided any information about herself and her qualifications? Use search engines to try and find additional information about the author's credentials.
- If the author is an organization can you determine what the focus or purpose is? Look for any links to a description of the organization.
- Look at the following examples. Is it possible to determine who the author or rganization is and what their credentials are?
2. Purpose and Objectivity
- Why has this information been posted and how objective is it?
- Is the point of view of the person or organization obvious?
- Can you determine if there is a bias or a slant to the information being presented?
- If there is advertising on the page, is it clear what relationship exists between the author of the material and the advertiser?
- Is the purpose of the web site to inform or to broadcast an opinion
- What audience is this web site trying to reach?
- Look at the following examples. Is it possible to determine the purpose of the page?
3. Content and coverage
- How comprehensive is the web site?
- Is there a large amount of information available or does the web
site consist primarily
of links to other web pages? - Is the information presented on the page consistent with your knowledge of the topic?
- Are references or bibliographies posted on the page?
- Is the source of the information stated or is a list of resources provided?
- Is it a scholarly source?
- What is the source of the information?
- Is it the opinion of the author?
- Is it based on research or documentation?
- Is the information accurate?
- Compare several different sources to make sure the information is
accurate.
With statistical information this is especially important. - Is the web page free of grammatical and spelling errors?
- Look at the following examples. Is it possible to determine the source and accuracy of the page?
4. Currency
- How current is the information? Is currency important for your research?
- Does the Web page state the date when it was created or updated?
- Are the links working and current?
- Does it state that it is an archival page? Has it been recently updated.
- Look at the following examples. Is it possible to determine the currency?
Types of web pages
Advocacy - The primary purpose of this type of page is to influence public opinion. A single person or a group may be responsible for the page. The URL will often end with .org. Examples of advocacy pages include the Green Party [http://www.greenparty.org] and the Democratic Party [http://www.democrats.org] web pages.
Business - The primary purpose of a commercial page is to promote or sell products or services. The URL will most often end with .com. Examples include Amazon.com [http://www.amazon.com] and the Dell Computer [http://www.dell.com] web sites.
Entertainment - The primary purpose of an entertainment page is to provide amusement and enjoyment. The URL may have a variety of endings. An example is the Internet Movie Database [http://www.imdb.com].
Informational -The primary purpose of an informational page is providing factual information such as census data, research reports or a calendar of events. Information is found on many different types of web pages so the URL could have a variety of endings. Examples include the Library of Congress Country Studies http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html] and the National Gallery of Art schedule of exhibits [http://www.nga.gov].
News - The primary purpose of a news page is to provide current information on regional, state and national events. The URL will often end with .com. An example is the Washington Post web site [http://www.washingtonpost.com]
Personal - Personal pages are diverse and may be devoted to a hobby or favorite activity. The URL will have a variety of endings.