Finding Information on the Internet: A Tutorial

 

Evaluating Web Pages:
Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask

 

1. Train your eye and your fingers to employ a series of techniques that help you quickly find what you need to know about web pages;
2. Train your mind to think critically, even suspiciously, by asking a series of questions that will help you decide how much a web page is to be trusted.

This page is organized to combine the two techniques into a process that begins with looking at your search results from a search engine or other source, follows through by investigating the content of page, and extends beyond the page to what others may say about the page or its author(s).

Questions to ask:

What are the implications?

Is it somebody's personal page?

• Read the URL carefully:
  • Look for a personal name (e.g., jbarker or barker) following a tilde ( ~ ), a percent sign ( % ), or or the words "users," "members," or "people."
  • Is the server a commercial ISP or other provider of web page hosting (like aol.com or geocities.com)

Personal pages are not necessarily "bad," but you need to investigate the author carefully.
For personal pages, there is no publisher or domain owner vouching for the information in the page.

What type of domain does it come from ?
(educational, nonprofit, commercial, government, etc.)

• Is the domain extension appropriate for the content?
  • Government sites: look for .gov, .mil
  • Educational sites: look for .edu
  • Nonprofit organizations: look for .org (though this is no longer restricted to nonprofits)
• Many country codes, such as .us, .uk. and .de, are no longer tightly controlled and may be misused. Look at the country code, but also use the techniques in sections 2 and 4 below to see who published the web page.

Look for appropriateness. What kind of information source do you think is most reliable for your topic?

Is it published by an entity that makes sense?
Who "published" the page?

• In general, the publisher is the agency or person operating the "server" computer from which the document is issued.
  • The server is usually named in first portion of the URL (between http:// and the first /)
• Have you heard of this entity before?
• Does it correspond to the name of the site? Should it?

• Look for New York Times news from www.nytimes.com
• Look for health information from any of the agencies of the National Institute of Health on sites with nih somewhere in the domain name.

Questions to ask:

What are the implications?

Who wrote the page?

• Look for the name of the author, or the name of the organization, institution, agency, or whatever who is responsible for the page
  • An e-mail contact is not enough
• If there is no personal author, look for an agency or organization that claims responsibility for the page.
  • If you cannot find this, locate the publisher by truncating back the URL (see technique above). Does this publisher claim responsibility for the content? Does it explain why the page exists in any way?

Web pages are all created with a purpose in mind by some person or agency or entity. They do not simply "grow" on the web like mildew grows in moist corners.

You are looking for someone who claims accountability and responsibility for the content.

An e-mail address with no additional information about the author is not sufficient for assessing the author's credentials.

If this is all you have, try emailing the author and asking politely for more information about him/her.

Is the page dated? Is it current enough?

• Is it "stale" or "dusty" information on a time-sensitive or evolving topic?
• CAUTION: Undated factual or statistical information is no better than anonymous information. Don't use it.

How recent the date needs to be depends on your needs.

For some topics you want current information.

For others, you want information put on the web near the time it became known.

In some cases, the importance of the date is to tell you whether the page author is still maintaining an interest in the page, or has abandoned it.

What are the author's credentials on this subject?

• Does the purported background or education look like someone who is qualified to write on this topic?
• Might the page be by a hobbyist, self-proclaimed expert, or enthusiast?
  • Is the page merely an opinion? Is there any reason you should believe its content more than any other page?
  • Is the page a rant, an extreme view, possibly distorted or exaggerated?
• If you cannot find strong, relevant credentials, look very closely at documentation of sources (next section).

Anyone can put anything on the web for pennies in just a few minutes. Your task is to distinguish between the reliable and questionable.

Many web pages are opinion pieces offered in a vast public forum.

You should hold the author to the same degree of credentials, authority, and documentation that you would expect from something published in a reputable print resource (book, journal article, good newspaper).

Questions to ask:

What are the implications?

Are sources documented with footnotes or links?

• Where did the author get the information?
  • As in published scholarly/academic journals and books, you should expect documentation.
• If there are links to other pages as sources, are they to reliable sources?
• Do the links work?

In scholarly/research work, the credibility of most writings is proven through footnote documentation or other means of revealing the sources of information. Saying what you believe without documentation is not much better than just expressing an opinion or a point of view. What credibility does your research need?

An exception can be journalism from highly reputable newspapers. But these are not scholarly. Check with your instructor before using this type of material.

Links that don't work or are to other weak or fringe pages do not help strengthen the credibility of your research.

If reproduced information (from another source), is it complete, not altered, not fake or forged?

• Is it retyped? If so, it could easily be altered.
• Is it reproduced from another publication?
  • Are permissions to reproduce and copyright information provided?
  • Is there a reason there are not links to the original source if it is online (instead of reproducing it)?

You may have to find the original to be sure a copy of something is not altered and is complete.

Look at the URL: is it from the original source?

If you find a legitimate article from a reputable journal or other publication, it should be accompanied by the copyright statement and/or permission to reprint. If it is not, be suspicious.

Try to find the source. If the URL of the document is not to the original source, it is likely that it is illegally reproduced, and the text could be altered, even with the copyright information present.

Are there links to other resources on the topic?

• Are the links well chosen, well organized, and/or evaluated/annotated?
• Do the links work?
• Do the links represent other viewpoints?
• Do the links (or absence of other viewpoints) indicate a bias?

Many well developed pages offer links to other pages on the same topic that they consider worthwhile. They are inviting you to compare their information with other pages.

Links that offer opposing viewpoints as well as their own are more likely to be balanced and unbiased than pages that offer only one view. Anything not said that could be said? And perhaps would be said if all points of view were represented?

Always look for bias.

Especially when you agree with something, check for bias.

Questions to ask:

What are the implications?

Who links to the page?

• Are there many links?
• What kinds of sites link to it?
• What do they say?

Sometimes a page is linked to only by other parts of its own site (not much of a recommendation).

Sometimes a page is linked to by its fan club, and by detractors. Read both points of view.

Is the page listed in one or more reputable directories or pages?

Good directories include a tiny fraction of the web, and inclusion in a directory is therefore noteworthy.

But read what the directory says! It may not be 100% positive.

What do others say about the author or responsible authoring body?

Questions to ask:

So what? What are the implications?

Why was the page put on the web?

• Inform, give facts, give data?
• Explain, persuade?
• Sell, entice?
• Share?
• Disclose?

These are some of the reasons to think of. The web is a public place, open to all. You need to be aware of the entire range of human possibilities of intentions behind web pages.

Might it be ironic? Satire or parody?

• Think about the "tone" of the page.
• Humorous? Parody? Exaggerated? Overblown arguments?
• Outrageous photographs or juxtaposition of unlikely images?
• Arguing a viewpoint with examples that suggest that what is argued is ultimately not possible.

It is easy to be fooled, and this can make you look foolish in turn.

Is this as credible and useful as the resources (books, journal articles, etc.) available in print or online through the library?

• Are you being completely fair? Too harsh? Totally objective? Requiring the same degree of "proof" you would from a print publication?
• Is the site good for some things and not for others?
• Are your hopes biasing your interpretation?

What is your requirement (or your instructor's requirement) for the quality of reliability of your information?

In general, published information is considered more reliable than what is on the web. But many, many reputable agencies and publishers make great stuff available by "publishing" it on the web. This applies to most governments, most institutions and societies, many publishing houses and news sources.

But take the time to check it out.