Evaluating Information
from
the World Wide Web:
Need to evaluate
Criteria for evaluating
Authority
Accuracy
Coverage
Currency
Objectivity
Advertising
Personal pages
Satirical pages
Tips for beginning
MC Library Tutorials
MC
Libraries
Last Updated: 1/23/06 [bsb] |
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First, identify the type of
page you are using:
.gov---government;
.edu---education; .com---commercial;
.org---organization;
.net---network; or .mil---military.
Identifying the type of page will often help you to determine the legitimacy and purpose
of the page. Generally, .edu and .gov sites are
considered more reliable but this is not always true.
Second, use the criteria discussed in the tutorial to determine the
page's relative worth. The more criteria that are met the better the likelihood of
finding legitimate information. Remember, because of the hypertext nature of the
web, that you will often link to a page that is not the home or index page. This
means that you might have to back up to the home page in order to complete your evaluation
since information about the site might only be found there.
Third, it takes time to do good research. Don't
grab the first thing you see just because you think it fits your information need.
Spend some time to evaluate the site and the information to see if it is valid and
unbiased. Taking this approach to research will help you with all of your research
whether from print or electronic resources.
Now, go on to the quiz to assess your understanding of
the tutorial. If your instructor is giving you extra credit, print out the quiz and
take it to one of the Reference librarians who will issue you a certificate.
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