carol jones evaluating web sites

Why evaluate a web site? Putting documents on the web is • EASY• FREE or CHEAP• Anyone can do it• UNMONITORED• Most pages on general search engines are self-

published• It is up to you to decide if the information on that

site is worthwhile

How can you tell if a web site is a good one?

There are 5 main things to look at to be sure you can use a web

site in a research paper

Look and evaluate!Consider….

• 1. Relevancy

• 2. Authority

• 3. Objectivity

• 4. Currency

• 5. Suitability

Relevancy

• Is this information something I can use for my topic? Or is it off the subject?

• Does this information have enough detail to help me with my report?

Authority• What kind of authority does the author

have? Who authored the web site? What credentials are listed for the author(s)?

• Are the credentials reliable or questionable?

• Can the URL of the web site give us information? (.gov, .org., .edu)

• Are there links to further information?

Objectivity• Why was this page written and for whom?

• What goals or objectives does this page meet?

• Is this page a mask for advertising? Is the information biased?

• Is the information based on facts or is it opinion? Many web sites are opinion pages.

Currency

• Is a publication date given?

• How up-to-date is the information?

• How important is the publication date for my topic?

• Are there any broken/dead links?

Suitability

• Is the web site good for some things and not good for other things?

• Is it written for students or for professionals? Can I understand what it says?

•More things to think about!

Why was the page put on the web?

• To inform?

• To share?

• To sell?

• To persuade?

• To explain?

Now ask yourself….

• Is the web site as good as other resources I might find in the library, such as subscription databases or print materials?

• Am I using the best sources available?

Finally….

Has the web site passed the evaluation process?

Then you are ready to take notes!