AUTHORSHIP
Note that author can mean a person or organization. |
- Who is the author of the website?
- What are the author's credentials? Is the author an authority on the
subject? Is it another student? A professor? Your next door neighbor?
- Is the author an organization? What do you know (or what can you find
out) about this organization? What is its purpose?
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ACCURACY
Information must be accurate and
verifiable before you use it in your own research or assignments. |
- Is the site well edited? Are there spelling or grammatical
errors? Is it written in a style that you would expect for the topic and audience?
- Does the information on the site fit with other information that you have
on the topic? Or are there discrepancies with other sources of information?
- Does the author provide a way to verify information on this site?
Are
footnotes, citations, or sources provided?
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CURRENCY
Look at both the date of publication and update, as well as the dates for
any cited information. |
- Is the page updated and
maintained?
- When was the page written? Last updated?
- How current is the information? Does this fit your needs?
Note that a
website written in July 2003 might contain information from 1975.
- Be aware that "Last
updated" may mean any update on the page, including
stylistic changes such as different colors or layout - not
necessarily changes to content.
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CONTENT
Does the information on the website meet your research or
information needs? |
- How detailed is the information - is it basic or advanced?
- Is the coverage of the topic complete? Does it leave out important
information? Does it offer more than one perspective?
- Is the web page part of a longer document?
Sometimes you will need to look
at more than one page to get the complete picture.
- Is there a bibliography or links to other information on the topic?
How
were the links selected? Are the other sources mentioned relevant and credible?
- How does the content compare with other resources (books, journal articles, other
web pages) on the same topic?
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PURPOSE
The purpose of the site should be clear. Be aware that some
sites present opinion as fact in
order to sell or persuade. |
- Does this site present fact or opinion?
- What is the purpose of the site? To inform?
To sell? To persuade?
- Is the site objective, showing multiple sides of an issue?
Bias is not
necessarily reason to reject a source - but be sure that you can identify it.
- Who is the intended audience? Advanced researchers in a field?
Elementary
school students? Members of a particular organization or
viewpoint?
- If there is advertising on the page, does this affect the content?
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DESIGN
Visual layout, choice of images and media files
often have an impact on a website's professional credibility. |
- What kind of information - textual, visual,
aural - does the page present, and does this add or detract from the page's usefulness or legibility?
- Do image or other media files slow down load time
or navigation through the website?
- Do the different design components work, or are images, sound files, etc. unable to display, play, or run?
- Does the web page require specific add-on software in order to read, see, print, or listen to resources linked
on the page? Is that add-on software readily available or must it be purchased?
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