Library Instruction: Web Site Evaluation
Arthur Lakes Library
Colorado School of Mines
1400 Illinois Street
Golden, Colorado 80401
Phone: (303) 273-3911
Fax: (303) 273-3199
www.mines.edu/library
Using information from web sites:

The World Wide Web has a huge and ever-expanding amount of information available on any topic you can image.  However, not all of this information will be valuable, useful or appropriate for research use.  The print and online resources provided by the CSM Library are critically evaluated, selected and purchased from reputable suppliers.  Information on the Web is different -- it is not selected, and it is up to you to evaluate it.  The following guidelines are meant to provide a starting point for you to evaluate Internet-based information.

For further assistance on this or any other library-related topic, contact one of our skilled Reference Librarians.

Using the web for research:
With careful evaluation, the web can be an excellent source of information.  However, always check with your teacher first, as some instructors will prefer that you not use the Internet in your research.
Points to consider when looking at web pages:
  • Can you tell who or what organization is responsible for the web site and the information contained therein?  Is this person or organization a reputable source for information?
  • Some web sites blend factual information, advertising and entertainment.  It may not always be easy to distinguish one from the other.
  • Can you determine if the web site is current?  Does it seem to be kept up-to-date, or has it apparently been allowed to lapse?  Do internal links work and are external links accurate? Is there an email contact for the web site?
  • Ask yourself if the information presented on a web site also available in print format.  If this is so, are there differences between the two formats?  Is one more current than the other?  Is one more complete than the other?  Does the site describe the differences in coverage?
  • Web site locations are notoriously unstable.  URLs (uniform resource locators) can change, and web sites can disappear.  When referencing a web page in your research, be aware that the link may change or disappear entirely.
Different types of web sites:
The last part of a URL (for example .edu, .org, and so forth) can help you to evaluate the potential usefulness and reliability of a web site as an information source.  As a rule, government and education web sites should be reliable, but commercial and organization sites should be used with caution as they may have a bias in the information they present.
  • .gov - A URL ending in .gov in the United States is a government web site.  In general the purpose of government web sites is to present factual information.
  • .edu - A URL ending in .edu in the United states is an educational institution web site.  Again, in general, the purpose of such web sites is to present factual information.
  • .org - A URL ending in .org typically belongs to an organization that sometimes is interested in influencing public opinion.  While some organization sites may present factual information, others should be approached with caution.
  • .com - A URL ending in .com is typically sponsored by a commercial organization.  Information presented on such sites should be approached with caution.  But note, for example, that reputable news organizations such as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal have .com URLs.
  • .net - A URL ending in .net should be treated like one ending in .com.  Note that many personal web pages may end in .net or .com.  It is often true that personal web pages have a tilde (~) embedded in the URL.  Personal web pages should also be treated with caution.
A web evaluation checklist:

The following guidelines are suggested as starting points for helping you to evaluate the quality of information found on a web site.  These guidelines are derived, in part, from an article referenced at their conclusion.

Content criteria
    • Accuracy
      • How reliable is the information?
      • How free from error is the information?
      • Can the information be verified against other sources?
    • Currency
      • Is the content of the work up-to-date?
      • Is the publication date clearly indicated?
      • If a date is included, what does it indicate: The date the material was first written? The date the information was placed on the web? The date the page was last revised?
      • If material is presented in graphs or charts, is it clearly stated when those data were gathered?

Source criteria

    • Authority
      • Is the author's name clearly stated?
      • What are the author's qualifications or credentials?
      • Is it clear who (or what organization) is sponsoring the page?
      • Is there a way to verify the legitimacy of the page's sponsor?

Purpose criteria

    • Audience
      • Who are the intended users of the information?
      • At what level is the information presented (e.g., subject expert, student, or lay person)?
    • Objectivity
      • Is the information presented biased in any way?
      • What is the purpose or point of view of the organization/author writing the material, and how might that influence the information presented?
      • If there is advertising or entertainment material on the page, is it clearly differentiated from the informational content?

Reference
Tate M, Alexander, J. Teaching critical evaluation skills for World Wide Web Resources.  Computers in Libraries. 1996 (Nov/Dec):49-55.

Take a pro-active stance:
In addition to utilizing the guidelines listed above, another way to evaluate the credibility of information found on the web is by taking active evaluation strategies.
  • Perform a keyword search on the author's name (use quotation marks) to find out what else, if anything the author has had published on the Internet. Do a search on DejaNews to find any messages the author may have posted on Internet newsgroups.
  • Contact the author and ask follow up questions. This is useful both for making a better evaluation of the person's knowledge as well as having the opportunity to ask your own questions.
  • Confirm/check the author's information with at least one other source.
There are a number of excellent online resources that provide additional information about evaluating web sites: