You be the Judge!
Criteria for judging Web sites for academic use:
1. Author's credentials & affiliation
- Who is the author? What expertise does he or she have on this topic? Who sponsors the site? Check the domain name to see if it is a university, business, organization, or an individual. Check for an "About Us" or "Contact Us" link.
2. Purpose of the site (educational or commercial?)
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What is the stated purpose of the site? Check the "About..." link if there is one. Is the site intended to inform, educate, or entertain? Would you quote information from this site in a college research paper?
3. Bias (sponsorship, language, or images)
- What position or opinion is presented and does it seem biased? What kind of sites does this one link to?
4. Currency (kept up-to-date)
- On what date was the page created? Is there a copyright or last updated date? Do you need more current information? Do links on the site still connect to their destination?
5. Accuracy
- Does the information presented seem accurate? Are the facts verifiable in another source?
6. References to sources of information
- Does the website provide citations for the information? Is there a bibliography available?
For more, see the Lesley Searchpath tutorial, Module 5.