Remember that anyone can publish anything on the Web, so you are responsible for evaluating the quality of the Web pages you use for your papers and assignments. Here are some questions you can use to help you evaluate Web pages. Check off as many as you can determine. The more checks you make, you probably have a better quality Web page. |
| Questions to Ask | Check for "Yes" |
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| #1 URL | |
| Look at the URL. (Web address) What type of domain is it? (.edu, .com, .gov, .org) Is it appropriate for the content? |
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| #2 AUTHORITY (Remember a Webmaster is not usually the same person as the author or creator of Web pages.) |
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| Is it clear who is responsible for the contents of the page? | ______ |
| Is there a link to a page describing the purpose of the sponsoring organization? | ______ |
| Is there a way of verifying the legitimacy of the page's sponsor? (such as: is there a phone number or e-mail contact information) | ______ |
| Can you determine the author/creator of the information and his/her qualifications? | ______ |
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| #3: ACCURACY | |
| Are the sources for factual information clearly listed? | ______ |
| Is the information free of grammatical, spelling, and other typographical errors? (These kinds of errors usually indicate a lack of quality and carefulness.) | ______ |
| If there are charts and/or graphs containing statistical data, are the charts and/or graphs clearly labeled and easy to read? | ______ |
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| #4: OBJECTIVITY | |
| Can you determine the purpose of the page? | ______ |
| Is the information free of advertising? | ______ |
| If there is any advertising on the page, is it clearly separated from the information? | ______ |
| Is the information based on opinions and overly biased? | ______ |
| Are there links to other viewpoints? | ______ |
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| #5: CURRENCY | |
| Are there dates on the page to indicate when the page was written and/or updated? | ______ |
| Are there any other indications that the material is kept current? | ______ |
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| BOTTOM LINE: Would you be comfortable citing this page for a research paper? | ______ |
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