Evaluating Websites

Mrs. GrockiLibrary Media SpecialistHenry James Memorial School

Five Evaluation Criteria

Authority Accuracy Objectivity/Bias Currency Coverage

Authority Who wrote the page?

Anyone can add information to the WWW

How can you find out? Look on the side or bottom of the page for

information Use the URL domain information Do an author search on Google to find out the

author’s educational background, occupation and qualifications

Has the author published other work?

Accuracy Who published the page? What on the site leads you believe that the

information is accurate? Does the page provide links to other

reliable sites? Can you verify the information provided

using a print source or another trusted web site?

Are there errors in spelling or grammar on the page?

Next

http://www.nida.nih.gov/MarijBroch/Marijteens.html

Back

Objectivity/Bias

What is the purpose of the page? Is it to Inform Sell or market a product or idea Persuade Entertain

Currency

When was the page created? When was the page last updated? Are there many dead links?

Coverage

Is the information free and complete? Is the topic adequately covered? Are there links to additional

information? Is this information useful to your

topic?

What do you think about these pages?

http://www.nida.nih.gov/MarijBroch/Marijteens.html

http://www.teenhealthfx.com/answers/Alcohol/subcategory.php?subsection=15

Works Cited

Library. Dept. home page. 10 Nov. 2006. Binghamton U. 29 Sept. 2008 <http://library.lib.binghamton.edu/ search/ evaluation.html>.

Tyburski, Genie. “How to Evaluate Information--Checklist.” The Virtual Chase. 12 May 2008. Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. 29 Sept. 2008 <http://www.virtualchase.com/ quality/ checklist_print.html>.