Evaluating Web Sites  

This guide has been created to help you evaluate information found on the web. This home page presents a brief overview of how to evaluate web resources. Please select the tab at the top of this page entitled In-depth Evaluation for greater detail and explanation of the website evaluation process.

ABCs of Evaluating Websites

Audience

• To whom is the site directed - children, adults, students; a certain ethnicity, gender, or political affiliation?
• Is it understandable by the layman, or is it highly technical requiring specialized knowledge?

Authority

• Is the author of the site listed?
• Can you determine his/her expertise?
• Is contact information given - phone number, adress, e-mail?
• With what organization is he/she associated?

Bias

• Does the language, tone, or treatment of its subject give the site a particular slant or bias?
• Is the site objective?
• Is it designed to sway opinion?  Organizational affiliation can often indicate bias.

Currency

• Is the site up-to-date with working links?
• Are dates given for when it was created and last updated?
• Is the topic current?

Scope

• Is the site an in-depth study of the topic going several pages deep, or is it a superficial, single-page look at the subject?
• Are statistics and sources referenced properly cited?
• Does the site offer unique information not found anywhere else, e.g., print sources?

Credit for this section is given to Carol Oshel at McDermott Library, University of Texas at Dallas.