Evaluating Websites The Good, the Bad, and the Misleading! It’s up to you to tell the difference!

Remember, anyone can put anything on the Web!

Why Should You Evaluate? There are billions of websites out there Many of them are not worth your time and do not belong in your Works Cited Sometimes it is hard to distinguish the good from the bad Sometimes people don’t want you to be able to tell the difference either!

The burden is upon you, the researcher, to find quality!

How Can You Tell? Look for: WHO? Who is the author? Are they an authority? WHY? Why did they write the site? WHEN? When was the information published? (And where did they get it, anyway?) WHAT? What are they talking about? HOW? How did they organize it?

WHO? is Criterion 1: Authority Look at the web address itself. What is the domain name? .edu? .com? .us? .org? .gov? .mil? other? Is the site from an educational institution, a for profit company, or an organization that may or may not be biased? Tip: If it has a ~ or a % it is a personal site http://banDHMO.org/

Who wrote it? Is the author identified? Is an organization responsible for the content? What is the goal of this organization? Might they be biased? Try to sell you something? Persuade you? Entertain? Are they experts in their field? What are their qualifications? Education? Affiliations? http://banDHMO.org/

What if you can’t find an author? Look for “About Us” “Contact Us” “Philosophy” “Mission” “Background” “Biography” etc. Do other credible sources refer to the site? (search it’s URL) http://banDHMO.org/

WHY? is Criterion 2: Purpose Is the site trying to persuade you to think or believe a certain way? Is it meant to inform you? Is it trying to sell you something? To entertain you? Is there another purpose? Are there excessive advertisements for the site purpose? You need to learn more about the organization to find out!

WHEN? Criterion 3: Accuracy and Currency Is the information up-to date? (When was the information published?) Is it properly referenced? (Does it say where it came from and when?) What are the dates you found? Does that refer to the information itself or just the webpage? Is there any bias? (Is there only one side of the information being presented?)

WHAT? Is Criterion 4: Scope Are many different aspects of the topic presented? How much detail and support is given to the information? Are many sides of an issue presented? Is the material too simple? Too complicated? Is there enough information? http://banDHMO.org/

HOW? is Criterion 5: Organization, Structure and Design How is the site well organized? Does it link to references? (do the links work?) Is there an internal search engine? Are dates of revision and publication clearly displayed? Is there a table of contents or a site map? http://banDHMO.org/

Can you verify your information from other sources? Remember, the free web isn’t your only choice for information! You wouldn’t just eat food that a stranger was giving you for free, would you? Don’t only feed your mind ‘free’ information! Check information you find with books, subscription databases, encyclopedias, and your teacher http://banDHMO.org/ http://www.dhmo.org/

Putting It All Together Remember that you are responsible for finding quality information! Your teacher will be evaluating your information, just as you are evaluating your sources. Be discriminating!