Criteria for Evaluating Web Documents
Authority
- Who is responsible for the intellectual content of the web page? (i.e. is an author provided)
- Does the author provide contact information? (e.g. email address)
- What are the author’s credentials?
- Where is the document published? (check URL)
- Is the web site sponsored by an Institution?
Accuracy
- What are the author’s research methods?
- Does the author provide supportive evidence? (e.g. cite other research)
- Have other scholars cited the author’s work?
- Check for proper grammar and spelling
Audience/Agenda
- Why was the text written and for whom?
- What are the goals & objectives of the author?
- Is the purpose of the web site to inform, explain, advertise or persuade?
- Is the information biased?
Currency
- Is the information in the document outdated?
- When was the document produced?
- When was it last updated?
- Are the links alive or dead?
**The above criteria apply not only to web sites but to print materials as well!
Consider the Source! Question Authority!
- Commercial: MentalWellness
- Advocacy: Hospice Access
- Informational: United States Gazetteer (Census)
- Personal:EMR Mind Machine
Evaluate these sites based on the selected criteria:
| Authority | Feline Reactions to Bearded Men |
|
The Genomic Genie and Its Promise to Both Science and Society |
|
| Accuracy | |
| Audience/Agenda | |
|
The Safety of Legal Abortion and the Hazards of Illegal Abortion |
|
| Currency |
Now compare sites on the same topic:
- AIDS
- Smoking
- Cloning
- Roslin Institute Online Information on Cloning and Nuclear transfer
- Dream Technologies International
- Curfews
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
