EVALUATING WEB PAGES

How do you know information from a Web page is true, accurate and of reasonable quality? Although publishers, editorial boards or reviewers usually (although, not always) decide whether books or magazine or newspaper articles are accurate and of decent enough quality to be published, anyone can create a Web page with no screening at all. You should always critically evaluate any information you receive, but it is especially important to evaluate information from the Internet. Below are some guidelines and criteria to help you evaluate web pages.

Start by reading:

• Evaluating Information on the Internet (from Purdue University Libraries)
• Understanding Web Addresses

The following are questions you should ask when evaluating any web page:

Who is the author or institution?

• If an individual has written the page, is biographical information about the author available? Such information could include: educational and other credentials, occupational position, institutional affiliation and address. Try doing a search on a web search engine to see if the author's name comes up in other web pages.
• If an institution has authored the page, is information available about that institution, including its purpose, history and street address? Try doing a search on a web search engine to see if the institution's name comes up in other web pages.
• What clues does the URL (Internet address) provide about the page? Read: Understanding Web Addresses

How current is the information?

• Is there a date on the page that indicates when the page was created and/or updated?
  • If no date is listed on the page, select "Document Info" from the Netscape "View" pull-down menu. This will show the date and time the page was last updated.
• Is there some information that is clearly out of date?

Who is the audience?

• Is the page intended for the general public, or is it meant for specific groups, such as scholars, members of an organization, children, etc.

Is the content accurate and objective?

• Are there political, ideological, cultural religious or institutional biases?
• Is the content intended to be a brief overview of the information or an in-depth analysis?
• If the information is opinion, is this clearly stated?
• Are facts or assertions documented with credible documentation?

What is the purpose of the information?

• Is the purpose of the information to inform, report news, present a particular point-of-view, market a product, advocate a cause or someone's personal web page.
• Is this purpose clearly stated?
• Does the page fulfill its stated purpose?

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These materials may be used for educational purposes if you inform and credit the author and cite the source as: LSCI 105 Online Research. All commercial rights are reserved. To contact the author, send comments or suggestions to: Eric Brenner at brenner@smcccd.cc.ca.us