Evaluating Information

Websites

GIVEN: Research material on the WWW...
CHECK: That the material is authoritative and reliable

Internet resources should always be evaluated as authoritative and reliable sources - there are few restrictions (and no quality assurance) on published material on the web.

1. Author(s) - CHECKLIST:
   • Are they associated with an institution or organisation in a relevant field?
   • What are their credentials?
   • Are they known as 'experts' in the field?
2. Title(s) - CHECKLIST:
   • Does the title contain words that relate to your topic?
   • Does it indicate how specific the item is?
   • Is there a subtitle containing further information?
3. Revision date - CHECKLIST:
   • Must the information you seek be recently published? If so...
   • Check date of revision or update.
     (This may indicate that it is up to date with current research, but there is no guarantee that the date given is accurate.)
4. Site origin - CHECKLIST:
   • The site extensions in the URL indicate the responsible organisation's category, e.g.:
     • .edu or .ac (academic institution)
       e.g. The University of Melbourne: www.unimelb.edu.au
     • .gov (government body)
       e.g. The Victorian Government: www.vic.gov.au
     • .com or .co (commercial body)
       e.g. BHP Billiton plc: www.bhpbilliton.com
     • .org (non-profit organizations)
       e.g. Community Aid Abroad: www.caa.org.au
     • .net (internet service providers)
       e.g. VICNET: www.vicnet.net.au
   • It also indicates of the country of origin, e.g.
     • Australian (.au),
     • UK (.uk)
     • USA (No country designation)
   • More extensions from VeriSign, http://www.verisign.com/corporate/
5. Evaluate Content