Evaluating Web Information

So you have a research paper that’s due in about a week, and you’re planning to start your research today. How will you start? Probably by searching the World Wide Web. It’s easy, fast, and available any time of the day or night. But with all Web information there’s a catch - is that information reliable?

Reliable? What’s the big deal? The deal is that research is supposed to be drawn from truthful and authoritative information. When you use library materials for your research, you can be fairly sure you are using reliable resources. Before librarians purchase a book or magazine or any item for the library, the item is evaluated by a librarian to make sure the material is valid and reliable for research. However, no authority of any kind monitors Web pages for content or truthfulness or reliability of research. It is easy to publish on the Internet, so there are many "opinion" pages, some with intentionally biased, misleading or false information. There is an amazing amount of information on the World Wide Web, but not all of it is worth using, especially if your grade is riding on it.

If you use Web information in your research, you have to evaluate your Web sources to make sure the information in them is accurate and reliable. You can do that by answering some questions about Accuracy, Authority, Currency, and Coverage.

• Accuracy
• Authority
• Currency
• Coverage

Accuracy

Is the information source cited so you can verify it, or can the information be verified from an independent source?
The Web has information on just about every subject, but keep in mind that anyone can publish anything on the Web, and there are no standards or authorities to ensure the accuracy of Web information. Be wary of research information that isn’t backed up by a bibliography or source citations. If the author’s willing to give intellectual credit to the research he used, then chances are he isn’t worried about other researchers checking his work. Also, a good Web author will provide an email link or contact information to allow Web page users to contact him concerning Web page content or sources of page information. If you aren’t sure about the reliability of the cited information, you can ask a librarian to help you verify the information in another authoritative source.

What is the purpose of the site - to inform, to explain, to promote, to sway opinion? What is the author’s intention in creating this work?
Just as with traditional authors, consider the qualifications, affiliations and credentials of the producer of the information. Be especially careful to read the information critically with regard to bias on the part of the information producer. Be sure to note whether the information provided at a particular site is original or copied from another source.

Authority

Who is the author?
With print materials, the author is generally identified clearly within the work. Remember that some works have multiple or corporate authors. With electronic information, instead of a traditional author you may need to consider who the producer of the information is. For example, who/what group has produced the WWW homepage? Where the information is located?

If there's no individual author, who produced the information?
With Internet information, often there is no author in the traditional sense of the term. In the case of Internet information it is important to examine closely the source providing the information. Who are the producers of this information? Sometimes you can get a hint as to the sponsor of a Web page by looking at the URL domain. The domain is noted by the last three letters in a URL, and can generally indicate the sponsoring institution of the Web site. There are currently six major domains:

    .com 	commercial or business site
    .edu	educational site (usually a university or college)
    .gov	U.S. governmental non-military agencies	
    .mil	U.S. military sites and agencies 
    .net	a network or internet service provider
    .org	U.S. non-profit organization

Currency

When was the Web page last updated?
Be sure to check when the Web page was last updated. Often you’ll find a seemingly great information source on the Web, only to find the contents haven’t been updated in over a year. Web page creators sometimes fail to update their pages. Check the bottom of the Web page to see when the page was last updated. A good general rule is that the page should have been updated within the last three months.

Keep in mind that the date of the last update to the homepage may not coincide with the currency of the information. For example, a homepage that was last updated a week ago may contain information that was produced and not updated since 1990. If you’re researching a very current topic, you probably don’t want to be using materials that aren’t up-to-date.

Coverage

Is the information presented from one specific point of view, or are several different perspectives represented?
Again, be careful of bias in the information you find in Web pages. Keep in mind that business or commercial Web sites may offer very accurate information, but often only from their point of view.

Who is the intended audience? Is the Web page popular or scholarly?
A popular resource is intended for a general audience. Most won't have references. A scholarly resource is intended for a more specific, acedemic audience. These materials often contain original research written by scholars in the area, and they usually contain extensive references. You need appropriate information for your research. You wouldn't use a children’s book in your Organic Chemistry research paper, and you shouldn't use a fan web site for a critical review of a work of literature.