Website Evaluation By Nathan Peavy and Rohan Madan

Questions to ask: What do the URL and domain tell us? Are they what you would expect? Is the contact information for the web-master or author displayed or linked? What are the credentials of the publisher or author?

What are the goals/objectives of the page? Is there an agenda? Is it a front for advertisement? Is the information relevant to your research? Are there well chosen links to other resources on the topic? If the information is taken from another source, is it unaltered and complete? Are sources documented with footnotes or links? How current is the page? Is it regularly updated? Is the page easy to navigate?

Other ways to test credibility: Use Google or Yahoo to do a Link: search Refer to a directory that evaluates it’s contents. Google the author’s name. e.g.: Rohan Madan “Rohan Madan” “Rohan * Madan”

Go to alexa.com and paste the URL in the search box