Evaluating Web Sites
Evaluate the Web Site's Authority
The URL (web address) and author information for a web site reveal a lot about site reliability. Determining who created a web site is critical in being able to judge its quality. Generally, anonymous information should not be used for academic research.
Consider the following questions when you're evaluating the authority of a web site:
- What type of domain does the site come from?
Government sites use .gov and .mil domains. Educational sites use the .edu domain. Non-profit organizations use .org and business sites use .com. Generally, .gov and .edu sites are considered more trustworthy than .org and .com sites.
- Who "published" the site?
The name between http:// and the first / usually indicates what organization owns the server the web site is housed on. Learning about the organization that hosts a site can give you important information about the site's credibility.
- Is it a personal web site?
Look for the names of companies that sell web space to individuals, like AOL or GeoCities. Also look for a tilde (~). Tildes are often used to signify a personal web site. Personal sites are considered less reliable than sites supported by organizations.
- Can you tell who (person or institution) created the site?
Look at the very top or bottom of the web page for a name, email address, or "About Us" or "Contact Us" link.
- Are the author's credentials listed on the site?
If you can't find these details on a site, try typing an author's name into a search engine like Google to get biographical information.
Consider:
- Identify the "domain type" of the site you're evaluating and explain why that is acceptable or unacceptable for your needs.
- Identify the "publisher" or host of the site and tell what you know (or can find out) about it.
- State whether or not the site is a personal site and explain why that is acceptable or unacceptable for your needs.
- State who (name the person or institution) created the site and tell what you know (or can find out) about the creator.
- Look for the author’s credentials on the site. List his/her credentials and draw conclusions based on those credentials. If there are no credentials listed, tell what conclusions you can draw from their absence.
- Using what you know about the authority of this web site, explain why it is or is not appropriate to use for your paper/project.
How might an instructor score your answer?
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