Evaluating a Web Site
A Guide to Judging Information
There are millions of web sites available on the Internet. Some of these
pages are created and maintained by individuals who are interested in
a topic, some are created by businesses, some by organizations, and still
others by institutions. While it is very easy to find all sorts of information
on the web, it is not always easy to discover if that information is reliable.
Before you trust anything you read or find on the web, you should judge
its' source very carefully. Unlike mainstream newspapers such as the Washington
Post or New York Times and unlike broadcast news organizations like ABC
or NBC where there are procedures in place to confirm all news reported,
there is no such procedure on the Internet. Anyone can say anything they
want about any topic they choose and it is up to you to be a savvy user
of the information you find.
You should confirm your findings with other non-Internet sources if it
is critical that the information you are seeking is correct. Casual users
of the web can follow the guidelines listed below to measure the reliability
of the information they find.
Accuracy
It is important to verify if the information you find on a web page is
accurate. Often personal opinion can look like professional advice and
unproven theories or untested rumors can pass for fact. Some points to
consider when trying to test accuracy:
- Is the information given up-to-date?
- Is it from a cited professional with a reputation for accuracy?
- Can the information given be verified in a non-Internet source?
- Is there a web page listing corrections to the data when found?
Authorship
As with any printed source, ask yourself who created the web page or
wrote the information contained on the page.
- Is it an expert you recognize?
- A reporter you trust?
- Is it a web page from an organization or institution you can rely
upon?
- Did you link to the web site via a site you trust?
- Does the web page supply biographical information including the author's
position, institutional affiliation, and address?
Publisher
All web sites have publishers and many web pages are created in conjunction
with reputable institutions. In general, information found on sites supported
and created by established institutions will be as reliable as their print
publications. Here are some items to look for to see if the web site was
published by a reputable institution:
- Name of the organization
- Graphics on the page that indicate the institution
- Official addresses
Sometimes the publisher of a web page is the author who is either paying
for space on a server, is allowed free home page space via their email
provider, or is using a free site supported by advertising. While many
of these sites are interesting and can be filled with reliable information,
you are safe to consider these sites in the same manner you would consider
self-published books. In other words, there is no authority reviewing
the accuracy of the contents of the page and there is no publisher who
has reviewed, edited, and approved of the content. Always consider the
source of web content.
Bias
Remember that information may be neutral, but rarely is the presentation
of that information not biased in at least some fashion. Evaluate web
sites based on the point of view of the producer. Here are some general
points to keep in mind:
- If you are reading about a company on its' web page, you are reading
an advertisement.
- If you are reading about a company on a competitor's web site, you
are also reading an advertisement.
- This general idea applies to political campaign web pages, political
issues, and product sites.
Evaluate the information carefully and consider the publisher of the
page.
Currency
All web pages should give some indication of when they were last updated.
This does not mean that all the information was updated on the date given,
but it does mean that someone is actively maintaining the web site. Be
wary of sites that are not updated with some frequency.
Indexing by Search Engines
Keep in mind that the web is not like a database found in the library.
The library evaluates and selects material based on standard criteria.
Search engines (such as Altavista or Infoseek) are not selecting sites
or evaluating sites. They are simply indexing what is presented on the
web - they are not judging it.
The responsibility for evaluation and judgment of information found on
the web is your own.
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