Web Site Evaluation  Tags: web_evaluation  

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While general search engines—such as Google, Yahoo!, Ask.com and others—are powerful tools, the Pellissippi Library buys subscriptions to many databases that students and faculty have access to.  There are a number of reasons to consult library databases before trying general Internet search engines. Library databases:

• Contain works from professionals or experts in their fields.
• Contain published works where facts are checked.
• Have citation information.
• Can help narrow topics or suggest related topics.
• Are updated frequently and list date of publication.
• Have been selected by Library staff and faculty for their appropriateness to the curriculum of the college.

Even with library databases available, it's still important to practice looking at web sites found with general search engines with a critical eye.  Anyone, anywhere can publish a web page relatively easily.  Some key questions that one should ask about a web site are:

Authority

Who wrote the page?

What are the author's or authors' credentials and are they credible? (It's a good idea to look for an author's biographical information on the page.)

Is there contact information for the author(s)?

Who sponsors or manages the web site? What is the site's domain (.com, .edu., .gov, .org, etc.)? This can give one an idea of the nature or mission of the sponsor or publisher. Personal web pages that are hosted by Internet service providers can be indicated by the domain (such as AOL, GeoCities, Tripod, etc.) or by a tilde mark (~) in the URL.

Is there a sponsor or "About Us" statement or link that can tell about the web site's management or parent organization?  Such notices can frequently be found in a page's header or footer.

Accuracy and Reliability

Does the page offer evidence from reliable sources, or references that can be checked? Does the page have links to other reliable sources? Does the page omit important information, or demonstrate evidence of manipulation or tampering?

Currency

Does the page mention when it was last created and/or last updated? (This information can frequently be found in a header or footer.) Are the data presented sufficiently recent or out-of-date?

Purpose or Intent

Is the intent of the page to inform or educate, or is it designed to advocate a position or sell a product?

Point of View or Bias

Does the page present multiple points of view or only one?  Does it present misleading arguments, make outlandish statements, or omit important information? Is there evidence of racial or gender bias?

Although evidence of bias should be a red flag, bias alone does not automatically mean that a page is not useful. There could very well be accurate information on such a site.  Bias should alert one to be very cautious in using a site as a source, however.

Tell us what you'd like to see in this subject guide. Is there a website that we should add? A book we should purchase? We would love to hear from you, so please leave a comment.

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While general Internet search engines sometimes base relevance based on advertising or number of links to a page, there are a few sites that limit searches to content that are considered scholarly and reliable.