MCHS Library

WEB PAGE Evaluation

The Internet is full of information; some is credible and some is misinformation. One of the skills you must acquire is how to evaluate a web page to determine if the information is credible. This will help you find out how well you are able to locate and select credible information. Follow the form below for each of the five information sources that you have located and selected.

Note: If the information requested is not available, write “N/A” in the space or next to the criterion.

Bibliographic Citation/Work Cited:

             1.Who (what person/s) authored/wrote the page?

            2. With what organization/publisher is the page affiliated?

            3. Title of the Web Page

            4. What is the URL/location for the site? http://_________________________

            5. What is the domain name of the site?     .com    .gov      .org     .net       .edu  

            6. Date the page was created/published.    Also: Date you accessed the page.

Criterion #1:            AUTHORITY

ü      Is it clear who wrote the information?

ü      Are there author’s qualifications for writing on this topic clearly stated?

ü      Is there a link to a page (or an area on it) describing the purpose of the sponsoring/publishing organization?

ü      Is there a phone number or postal address to contact for more information? (email address is not enough) 

Criterion #2:            PERSPECTIVE [Point of view]

ü      Is the information fairly unbiased? If not, you are obliged to find information on the same topic with the opposing point of view.

ü      Is the information free of advertising?

ü      If there is any advertising on the pages, is it clearly set off from the information content? 

Criterion #3:            ACCURACY

ü      Are the sources for any factual information clearly listed so they can be verified in another source?

ü      Is the information free of grammatical, spelling, and other typographical errors?

ü      Is the information accurate, when compared to other sources? 

Criterion #4:            CURRENT

ü      Are there dates on the page to indicate when the page was written or last revised?

ü      Are there any indications that the information is kept current or updated?

December 2000
cj

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