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Evaluating
Information on the Web
Information on
the Web
Information
in Periodicals
Checklist For
Evaluating Web Pages
For More Information
On Evaluating Web Sites
Web Sites That
Have Undergone Evaluation
Information
on the Web
If you go to Google (or
any other search engine), you can find
up-to-date information by surfing the
Web. Surfing the Web is easy and fun.
A lot of good information is available
via the Internet, but there's also a
lot of junk. The Internet is an unregulated
medium, so you get a lot of trash along
with the occasional treasure.
Information
in Periodicals
Periodical publications, on the other
hand, are regulated with defined editorial
and review processes. An article from
a reputable journal, which has undergone
a formal review process, is generally
a more appropriate source for a research
paper than information gleaned at random
from the Web. To learn more about scholarly
journals and popular publications, see Distinguishing
Scholarly Research Journals from Other
Periodicals. It is fairly easy to
distinguish a scholarly journal from
a general interest magazine. Judging
the content of an Internet site can be
more challenging. Use the following checklist
as a starting point for evaluating Internet
sites.
Checklist
For Evaluating Web Pages
Questions to ask about the site's
author
- Can you identify the
author of the site (either an individual
or an organization)?
- Is the author an expert
on this topic?
- Is the author's primary
purpose to provide scholarly information?
- Is the author's primary
purpose to sell a product or service?
- Is the author's point
of view unbiased?
- Where does the site come
form? Look at the URL - is it .edu
for an educational site, .gov for government,
.com for commercial, etc?
Questions to ask about the site's content
- Are there any obvious
errors or misinformation?
- Does the information
appear to be accurate?
- Can the information be
verified through another source?
- Is the information current?
(Is there a date for the last update
on the page?)
- Is the information scholarly
in nature? Is documentation provided?
- Are the links useful?
- Are the links active?
Questions to ask about how the site
is organized
- Is there a table
of contents?
- Is the site easy
to navigate?
- Do the graphics
enhance or interfere with the
usefulness of the site?
For
More Information On Evaluating
Web Sites
Five
Criteria for Evaluating Web Pages
Evaluating
Web Information
Evaluate
Web Sources: Evaluation Criteria
Web
Sites That Have Undergone Evaluation
Librarian's
Index to the Internet
Scout Report's Archives
Carol
Singer's Bookmarks
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