Printed information resources such as books, magazines, journals and
reference sources go through a series of "tests" before arriving
in a library (e.g. editing, peer review, independent review, selection
by librarians). Information sources (web pages, etc.) on the Internet
are generally unfiltered. Anyone anywhere with a computer can
create a web site about anything. So, it is important to critically
evaluate the information you find on the Internet. Here are some things
to consider:
Authority
Who is the author/creator of the information? Can you tell?
What do you know about the author? Can you tell what his/her education, occupation,
training or experience is?
Is the author impartial or biased about the topic? How do you know?
Why would you consider the author a reliable source of information about the topic
you’ve searched?
Affiliation
What institution (company, university, government, organization) is the information
coming from?
Is the institution commercial (profit-motivated, selling something)? Or educational? Or
not-for-profit?
How is the author/creator affiliated with this institution (employee, owner, official)?
Would this bias the information he/she presents?
Currency
When was the information which is presented created?
When was the web page created? When was it most recently updated?
Is the information's date appropriate for your topic?
Purpose
Why do you think the institution created this web page? (To inform, to persuade, to
promote?)
Has the purpose of the web page influenced the content of the page?
Audience
Who is the intended audience for this information? (Anyone? scholars? particular groups
of people?)
Uniqueness
Is this information unique? Or, are there other sources (other sites, printed sources,
etc.) which provide the same information?
Does this site have something special that makes it better than those other sources?
Conclusion: After considering all these questions, does
the site seem appropriate for your needs?
