Search the Internet
Evaluating Web Resources
The World Wide Web has an abundance of information available, but many sources are notreliable. Consider the following points before using a Web site as a reference source.
Source & Date:
- Is the author of the page easily identifiable?
- How knowledgeable is the author or group on the subject matter of the site?
- Is the expertise of the author or group documented on a credentials page? You may need to trace
the Internet address back to a page in a higher directory to get this information. - What is the purpose of the site? Informative, commercial, satirical? The URL extension (Internet address)
can tell you something about the information source:- .edu indicates educational or research sites
- .gov indicates government sites
- .com indicates commercial products or commercially sponsored sites
- ~ followed by a name may indicate a personal home page with no official authority
- Does the author provide contact information in case users have questions or suggestions?
1. Accuracy
- What is the intent of the content? Don't take information printed on a Web site at face value.
Don't assume that because someone wrote it that it is true -- you really can't believe everything you read! - What is the author's point of view? Is any sort of bias evident?
- Is the source of information clearly stated, whether original or borrowed from another source?
- Has the site been updated recently and this information available on the page? Is the content
of the page current? - Are the links reliable? Dead-end links or messages that a link has moved indicates the site might
not be current.
- Does the text follow basic rules of grammar, spelling, and composition?
- Is the writing style appropriate to the intended audience?
- What other resources, print and non-print, are available in this area? (Check with a librarian for suggestions.)
- What is the value of the Web site in comparison to other information sources available on this topic?
- Can you identity author, date, publisher, etc. as you would with a traditional reference (book, journal, newspaper)?
- How does the Web site fit in with the overall context of your search? Can you use "anything" on the topic,
or is your assignment limited to particular types of sources, such as books and scholarly journals? Define
your research needs and decide which sources are the best for your purposes.
Someone creates Internet documents and, just like print media, this information is protected by copyright law.
You may use short excerpts for classroom projects like a research paper, but you must cite them as you would
any other source. (Style
Manuals) Materials are "public domain" --free for anyone to use without attributing the
source-- only if it is explicitly stated on the site. Internet users are required to follow copyright laws.
Citation:
Internet resources must be cited and footnoted just like any other source. If you're not sure how to cite an
electronic source (WWW site, e-mail, listserv, Gopher, database, etc.) check with a reference librarian at
the information desk. You must first know what citation style your professor requires -- MLA, APA, etc.
For electronic source citation help and examples for each citation style, refer
to: Style Manuals.
JRN 1998; rev. ALB 10/99; rev. ACP 11/00; rev. SSK 2/04