Evaluating Information Resources

Sources

Content

Support

Web Sites Reviewing Other Web Sites

Evaluating Support of Information Sources

Because anyone can publish anything on the World Wide Web, it is important that the author provide documentation to support the information, or that the user can find other sources to support the information.

Question to Ask: does the document rely on other sources that are listed in a bibliography or include links to the documents themselves?

What to Look For:

• Does the author provide a bibliography or cite references to confirm the accuracy of the information?
• Are references cited fully? Does the author follow a recognized style manual to cite references and quoted materials?
• Does the author display knowledge of theories, schools of thought, or techniques usually considered appropriate in the treatment of his or her subject?
• Has the document been subjected to a peer review process?
• Is the document a primary (original, unfiltered material) or secondary (modified, selected, or rearranged information about primary materials) source?
• Does the site refer to print and other non-Internet resources or just Internet resources?

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