Evaluating Web sites

The Web has a lot to offer, but not all sources are equally valuable or reliable.   These points help SXU students better evaluate Web sources. On this page, "Web pages" means the "free Web" - Web sites anyone can access - not Web-based research tools like databases that the Library provides for the SXU community.

Who wrote the page? What are the author's credentials? Can you verify the author's credentials?

  • Look for the author's name near the top or the bottom of the page. If you can't find a name, look for a copyright credit (©) or link to an organization.
  • Look for biographical information or the author's affiliations (university department, organization, corporate title, etc.). Anyone who has visited a chat room knows that people don't always identify themselves accurately.

Whose Web site is this? What organization is sponsoring the site?

  • Look at the domain (.com, .edu, .org, etc.)
  • Look for an "about this site" link.
  • Also look for a tilde (~) in the URL, which usually identifies a personal directory on a web site. Be careful of a Web page that has a tilde in its URL.
  • Internet service provider sites (AOL, Mindspring, MSN, etc.) and online community sites (GeoCities, Tripod, Angelfire, etc.) feature personal pages. Be careful of Web pages from those sites, too.

Normally, SXU students should use Web sites that support the information with citations.

  • Look for links or citations to sources. Some academic Web pages include bibliographies.
  • Does the page cite well-known sources or authorities?
  • Does the page cite a variety of sources?
  • Do other pages on the same topic cite some of the same sources?
  • The Web page in question should have a mix of internal links (links to Web pages on the same site or by the same author) and external links (links to other sources or experts).
  • If a Web page makes it hard for you to check the support, be suspicious.

Who is the target audience?

  • Is the target audience: academic researchers? kids? buyers of competitors' products? trekkers? political extremists?
  • Look at reading level of the page: is it easy to read or challenging? Does it assume previous knowledge of the subject?
  • Consider the design of the Web page: are there banner ads and animated GIF's, or does the page present a lot of text with little decoration?

Is there a date at the top or bottom of the page?

    A recent date doesn't necessarily mean the information is current. The content might be years out of date even if the given date is recent. The last update of the page might have consisted of someone changing an e-mail address or fixing a typo.

Is the information up-to-date?

  • This takes a little more time to determine. Compare the information on the Web page to information available through other sources. Broken links are one measure of an out-of-date page.
  • In general, information for science, technology and business ages quickly. Information in the humanities and social sciences ages less quickly. However, old information can still be perfectly valid.

Is the author being objective or biased?

  • All information is biased in some way. You must take the bias into account when interpreting or using the information given.
  • Look at the facts the author provides, and the facts the author doesn't provide.
  • Are the facts accurately and completely cited?
  • Is the author fair, balanced and moderate in his or her views, or is the author overly emotional or extreme?
  • Based on the author's authority, try to identify any conflict of interest.
  • Determine if advertising is clearly separated from the objective information on the page.

If in doubt, always check with your professor!