How to Evaluate a Web Page
To evaluate a Web page (and determine if you want to use it for your research) look for:
- Purpose: Why was the page created? To:
- Inform
For example: laws, regulations, and services (governmental sites--federal, state, local), available collections and services (library sites), available courses, programs, and services (educational sites). Warning Regarding Health Information.
- Entertain
For example: games, puzzles, pictures (with various ratings), books, magazines, gossip, information about television or radio shows, celebrities, fictional characters.
- Share information
For example: hobbies (genealogy, stamp collecting), fandom (actors, celebrities, shows)
- Advertise/Sell a product or service (business/marketing)
For example: almost any product imaginable from flowers to automobiles.
- Influence views, beliefs, elections (advocacy)
For example: pro/con {issue}, actual and parody candidate/ballot issue pages.
- Provide up-to-the-moment news
For example: current events, play by play sports, television and radio stations, newspapers. Related to advertising, because the pages want readers to continue accessing them or to watch or purchase another version.
- Personal enjoyment
For example: pages created by individuals (child or adult) who are not affiliated with any group or organization. These may have some or many of the above mentioned purposes (and occasionally provide excellent information and/or links to other pages), although most of them are for fun.
- Sponsor/Owner: On what type of Internet provider or organization does the page reside? (Provenance.)
- Government agency: federal, state, city, county (address frequently includes .gov)
Governmental sites have "official" information. For example, the text of the Code of Federal Regulations or a bill or resolution is a primary source and is therefore a valuable resource. The law is the law.
- Educational: University, college, high school (address frequently includes .edu)
Educational sites give "official" representation for organizations that offer education. Courses, syllabi, faculty and staff, admissions information, libraries, etc. are detailed online for current and prospective students and parents. In addition, many educational sites have pages that highlight the faculty's research. Departmental pages (including the library) frequently have links to sites by subject--a good way to find pages recommended by someone who has expertise in the field. Educational sites may include pages created by students for personal enjoyment (see above).
- Business/Company (address frequently includes .com)
These sites are created to promote a company's goods and services; at an increasing number of sites these can be purchased online. Some companies have links to their annual reports. It is extremely unlikely that an official site will include negative information about that company.
- Association: Professional, Trade, Entertainment (address frequently includes .org)
Association sites are designed to recruit and provide information to current members.
- News bureau: television, newspaper, radio (address frequently includes .com)
News sites promote the network (shows), station (often the local news), or print publication. An increasing number of publications are available online only. Currency is very important. Sites online help researchers access news locally and from abroad.
- Personal (Individual)
These pages are created for the enjoyment of the creator and his/her family and friends. There are instances where a personal interest page will have information or links to information that is scholarly or otherwise highly credible, but remember, "any idiot can create a Web site--and has" so you must be careful when accessing these pages.
- Organization and Content: Is the page organized and focused? Is it well designed? Is the text well written? Are the links relevant and appropriate? Are the links evaluated?
- Bias--political or issue stance (of the author or sponsor): Some web pages have an inherent bias that will impact everything that appears on them. Is the author or sponsor:
- left/liberal?
- right/conservative?
- center?
- a political action (PAC) group or association?
- a business
- Date of Production/Revision: When was the web page produced? When was it last revised? How up-to-date are the links? Are the links still viable?
- Usefulness: Is the Web page relevant to the current research project? A well-researched, well-written, etc. page is not going to be helpful if it does not address the topic at hand. Ask, "is this useful to me?" If it is useful, does it:
- support an argument
- refute an argument
- give examples (survey results, primary research findings, case studies, incidents)
- provide "wrong" information that can be challenged or disagreed with productively
Very important: does the page have an identifiable, respectable author and/or sponsor? If not, the page must be used with caution. Information found "on the Web" has as little credibility as information found "in a book" or "in an article." Vague ownership frequently means that it is not a credible research source. [The Web has less editorial control than the National Enquirer or other tabloids!]
See also Evaluating Books, Evaluating Journals, Evaluate a Movie, Video or Film Clip.
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