Evaluating Information Resources

Sources

Content

Support

Web Sites Reviewing Other Web Sites

Evaluating Information Content

The World Wide Web has much information to offer, but few web sites are critically reviewed for accuracy and bias in the same manner as applied to scholarly journals and books. For research purposes, you want sources that include accurate, verifiable information that is up to date (not yesterday's information which may have since been proven wrong), and sources that discuss the topic truthfully.

Question to ask: is the information reliable and error-free?

What to Look For:

• Is there an editor or someone else who verified/reviewed the information?
• Can the background information that was used be verified for accuracy?
• Does the research document include an explanation of the research methods used to gather and interpret the data?

Additional questions for evaluating information content (page 2 of 2)