Evaluating Web Sites

Although the WWW has proved to be an invaluable resource for scholars, students, and laypeople alike, it naturally raises some questions. With over 2 billion web sites, and more coming everyday, how can you be sure that the information you are getting is accurate and reliable. Here are some points to ponder...

Who owns or created the site?

• Is it easy to identify the creator of the site?



• What do we know about the author? Do they list their occupation, years of experience, position, or education?



• Are there links to homepages or other institutions?



• Is there contact information available?



• Does the owner have point of view or bias that would influence the information on the site?

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What is the site about?

• Is it an overview of a topic or in-depth research?



• Has this same information been published elsewhere? If so where?



• Could better information about your topic be found elsewhere?



• Can the information be verified?

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When was the site created or last updated?

• Are creation and revision dates listed on the site?



• Was the revision date recent?

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Why was the site created?

• Inform



• Explain



• Persuade



• Entertain



• Advertising

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Where is this site housed?

• Does the URL provide clues about ownership?



• What is the title of the page?



• Who is the Internet provider?



• domain name



• suffix (.com, .org, .edu, .gov)



• files & folders

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