Sometimes, it is appropriate to use websites as resources for research projects. Always evaluate a website for usefulness, accuracy, and trustworthiness before using the website as a reference. Even when using a website for personal research, always evaluate the likely accuracy of the content. This will help you avoid misinformation or disinformation.
You can evaluate a website by some criteria. You can use these criteria to form an impression of a website. If the website fails any of these criteria, it doesn't automatically make the website a "bad source":
- Purpose & Audience
- Who is the site designed for?
- Is the site scholarly or popular?
- Are there advertisements on the site?
- What is the overall purpose of the site?
- Authority & Credibility
- Can the author of the site be identified? (Is the "author" an organization?)
- Can the author be contacted? Is there any contact information?
- What are the author's qualifications? Do their qualifications show expertise on the subject?
- Is the site affiliated with a particular organization?
- What is the domain of the site (.edu, .gov, .org, .com)?
- Accuracy & Reliability
- Does the site appear to be well-researched?
- Are there references supporting the site's statements or viewpoints? How well do the references relate to the site's claims? Are the references high-quality themselves?
- Is it easy to tell which references support which claims?
- Does the site include grammatical, spelling, or typographical errors?
- How does the site compare to library resources available on the topic?
- Currency & Timeliness
- When was this information on the website published?
- Does the page indicate when it was most recently updated?
- Are there dead links on the page?
- Objectivity or Bias
- Does the site present many opinions or just one?
- Does the site present opinions or facts?
- What biases can you identify?
- Is the site sponsored by a company or organization?
- If there are advertisements, are they easy to distinguish from the informational content?
- Structure & Navigation
- Is the site well organized? Can you tell what content goes together?
- Is it easy to navigate between different pages on the site?
- Does the site have a search box?
Finally, ask yourself these questions:
- Is this site a reliable, well-documented information source provided by a reputable author or organization?
- Would this be a good source of information for my assignment?
