Truth or Fiction? How to Evaluate Web Sites

There’s a lot of great information on the web, but it’s important to take a few minutes to evaluate web sources before using web sites as information sources. Books and magazines usually have editors, and although some websites have editors as well, not all do. Instead, it’s your job to make some editorial decisions about web content.

Ask these five questions when you’re evaluating web based information sources.

1. Who wrote this? What makes this author an expert in the subject?
2. What’s the purpose of this site? Is this site here to inform readers about a topic, advocate a position or some other purpose?
3. Who is the intended audience for this web site? Is the information geared to little kids, or rocket scientists?
4. What are the points of view, or biases, in this web site? All information sources have some bias, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use the information source, but you should be aware of the points of view and biases.
5. Where did the author get his or her information for this web site? Are there footnotes, endnotes or a list of sources? Always be suspicious of any information sources that doesn’t include sources!