The Internet provides access to a wide variety of information - some good and some less reliable. Use care in deciding which sites to use for research. These are some tips for assessing the quality of a web site. Ultimately, you need to look for currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose.
- Can you tell who created the site? Some sites have corporate or institutional authors. Is there contact information for the author or sponsor?
- Is the information provided well documented?
- Are sources or links to sources given?
- Is the page signed? Commercial or institutional pages may use a corporate logo, but personal pages should be signed.
- Beware of pages without any identification of origin.
- Can you tell if there is a bias to the site? A particular slant or bias is not necessarily bad, but you should be aware of it.
- Can you tell when the site was last reviewed or updated? Is the information current?