What?

What is the site about?

Does it have the kind of information you need?

*Look at the browser title bar, document title,
content, and links.

Who?

Who created the page/site?

Can you find and verify the author's
qualifications, whether an individual or an organization?

*Look for "About us /Author" links for
author’s name and contact information.

*Verify author's qualifications in another
source, e.g., journal, encyclopedia, etc.

*Look for a link to the home page of
the website where the document lives.

*Look at the parts of the URL or
address to find organizational affiliation.

*Use a WHOIS search to help determine ownership of website

Where?

Where is the information coming from?

Does the site list any sources or methods used in gathering their information?

*Look at the URL and domain suffix.

- Only the following three are restricted:
.mil=U.S. Military.
.edu=U.S. institution of higher learning.
.gov=U.S. federal, state, or local government.

*All other suffixes can be registered by ANYONE:
.com, .net, .org, .tv

*Two letter country codes (.uk, .ca) can identify where is it from if not U.S.

*URL should match the organization responsible for the page.

*Check who owns the site at a WHOIS site: http://www.networksolutions.com.

Why?

Why is this site on the web?

How does it affect the information?

*Look at “About us/Mission/Purpose”,
links, content, and advertising.

*Determine purpose of the site:
-Informational (provides multiple viewpoints and references).
-Business or marketing (tries to sell you something).
-Advocacy or “soapbox” (tries to persuade you).
-Entertainment (satirical, fictional).

*Choose sites whose purposes are compatible with your information needs

When?

When was the page or information created?

Is the currency of the information provided important?

*Look for dates. Can you tell what they mean?
Publication or copyright date? Last modified or
updated? Date statistics gathered or published?

*Note date you accessed the site. You need this to cite the Web site!

How?

How accurate or credible is the page?

*Examine references and bibliographies.

*Verify information in a reputable source
(e.g. encyclopedia, book, other websites).

*If you notice many errors in spellings, punctuation,
grammar, etc., question the accuracy of other information.