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.