Evaluating Internet Resources
It is important to evaluate all the internet resources that you intend to use for your assigment. Not all scientific information on the internet is valid or authoritative.
There are a few factors to consider when you evaluate internet resources for tertiary study and research. If you are not sure where to begin, start by asking yourself the following questions:
1. Who is the author?
Consider the credentials of the author - look at any information provided about him/her eg. Where does he/she work? What qualifications do they hold?
2. What's the domain for the site?
The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address for a website site eg. http://www.dartmouth.edu/~biomed/workshops/search.htmld/evaluation.shtml. Look at the 3-letter domain within the site address eg. .edu, .org, .net, .com. Generally, you can conclude that information on an educational (.edu), organisational (.org) or government (.gov) domain is quite authoritative, but there are exceptions to this rule. You must carefully evaluate all sites. Be wary of sites on commercial domains (.com) which might contain information that is biased for the company that the author works for.
3. How up-to-date is the site?
All good websites should have the date that they were last updated. For a topical subject, it's important that the information be regularly updated to incorporate new developments in the field.
4. Who links to this site?
If other websites are linking to the site that you are evaluating, it may be an indication that it contains useful information. If you are evaluating a site that is linked from other authoritative organisations (eg. government or educational domains) it is a good sign!
To find out who is linking to the site, go to Google's Advanced Search and enter the URL into the Links section of the Page specific search.
5. How good is the presentation?
Check the webpage for grammatical errors and use your personal judgement to determine if the content is on a 'scholarly' level. For example, the information might be on an educational domain (.edu) and was last updated in Jan 2004, but if it is poorly written, you will not want to use it for your assignment.
This page presents you with a basic outline for evaluating internet resources. If you would like more information, please click on the links under More Information at the top of this page.
