Thomas
F. Saffell Library
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Evaluating Web Pages - The Basics Only
Is it Relevant
- If you are doing an assignment, have you read the assignment, asked the
instructor about anything you didn't understand, and put together a sentence
or two defining your topic? Do you have in mind the questions you expect to
use web pages to answer?
- Can you use the web page as reference in your assignment? Does the web
page help you find other web pages that you can use as references?
Is it Authoritative
- Is the web page published by a government body? In most cases it would
have a .gov domain in the URL
- Is the web page published by an official department of a college or
university? In most cases it would have an .edu domain in the URL -- the
personal page of a student, a club, or even the person page of a faculty
member that deals with subjects the prof is not an expert in is not an
official college or university page
- Is the web page published by a well known institution with expertise on
the subject? Examples would be the American Cancer Society, the American
Museum of Natural History, The Finney County Historical Society, the
American Medical Association, etc.
- Is the web page published by a well established magazine, journal,
newspaper, book publisher, or broadcast news network? Examples would be Time
Magazine, Scientific American, The New York Times, The Garden City Telegram,
U.S.A. Today, CNN, C-Span, etc.
- If the web page is none of the above, you should be very cautious about
using it to support the truth of statements it makes. You should look for
sources from the above to support statements you may find in other web pages
that are not as authoritative.
Is it Current
- What is the date the web page was last updated? What is the date of the
specific article or item you wish to use?
- How recent does the information you use have to be? If you are doing a
project on Alexander the Great, who lived more that 2,000 years ago
information that is twenty years old may be good, although you should look
at newer sources to try to be sure no new and important discoveries have
been made or new ways of looking at the old facts have become very
important. If material from a web page were used to show the best current
knowledge on genetics or computer technology the material should probably
not be more that one or two years old.
Is it Biased
- Even if the source in one of the most authoritative, consider the
following: does it have a big financial interest that would influence
the statements it makes? Does it have a preexisting prejudice to support a
particular kind of business activity, politics, social philosophy, etc.? Are
there conflicting facts or opinions published by equally authoritative
sources?
- If the source is an established magazine is it an opinion magazine or an
advocacy magazine promoting only a particular point of view and not
attempting to give "balanced" news and information? For example,
you should expect both the Animal Times (magazine of People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals) and Bowhunter to have strong and opposite biases about
hunting.
Updated by Library Services Updated
1-29-04
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