Websites

When using websites for research, it is especially important to evaluate the sites to determine if they are appropriate for your research. Here are some criteria to use when evaluating websites.

Currency: Are there dates on the website stating when the information was written, published, or last updated? Depending on your topic, the currency of the information helps determine its value. 

Reliability: Are sources given for factual data presented on the site? Are there spelling, grammar, or other typographical errors?

Authority/Source: Do you know who is publishing the site? What are the author's credentials, and how do you know that? Who sponsors or maintains the site? Is there a name, address, and phone number given? Does the website have a bias? 

Purpose: Who is the intended audience? What is the intended purpose of the website? Is the website intended to sell or promote something? If there are opinions on the site, are they biased or one-sided? Or is the website intended to inform, explain, and give factual information?