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Evaluating a Web Page

Can you trust the Web pages that you find on the Internet?

Are they appropriate resources for your research paper?

Here are some tips on how to evaluate a web page:

Criteria	Questions to Ask	Where to look for the answers
1. AUTHORITY / RESPONSIBILITY	Who is the author of the page? Is it an individual or a group? What are the author's qualifications to speak on this issue?	Look for authorship, responsible party information in: top & side navigation bars page headers, footers
2. PURPOSE	How would you describe the content of the page? What is the purpose of the page? (To entertain? To inform? To persuade? To deceive?)	Read "About." links or look for mission statements to determine the purpose of the site.
3. CURRENCY	When was the page last updated? Do the links work?	Look for evidence of currency by checking the footer for last update.
4. OBJECTIVITY	How objectively is the content presented? Is more than one side given?	Check out bias, advocacy Examine the URL: .com usually means selling you something is the bottom line .org can signal advocacy for a cause ~ in the address commonly signifies a personal page .gov or .edu are generally more authoritative sites, but examine any site closely
5. ACCURACY	Are there any misspellings or errors on the page?	Examine the body of the page for typos or other mistakes that can indicate whether or not the content is reliable sources or footnotes for any statistics or facts presented
6. APPROPRIATENESS	Would this page be an appropriate source for a research paper? Why or why not?	Do your answers to the questions above add up to a good source?

Updated 5/09

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