Accuracy / Authority

• Is the information correct, factual, and comprehensive?
• If statistics are included, are their sources identified?
• Are the author’s credentials identified? Is there a way to contact him/her?
• What sources (articles, books, other web sites, etc.) does the author cite?
• Is the publisher a well-known, reliable institution/organization?
• Does it list a preferred domain, e. g. –

  .edu (educational),

  .gov (governmental),

  .org (organization , or

  .com (commercial),

• Is there evidence of quality control (can you check the information in another source)?
• Is it refereed or peer reviewed?

Balance / Bias

• Does the information present a balanced, reasonable viewpoint?
• Is the page trying to influence you?  Does it appear to contradict itself or distort reality?
• Is there any product or service advertisement on the page?  If so, check for bias.

Currency / Coverage / Content

• Was the page produced or revised recently?
• Are the links active & current?
• Is information updated regularly (as stated on the page), including links, statistics, and illustrations?
• Is the language of the page technical or written for a nonprofessional?  
• Is the information free, or is there a fee to obtain the information?
• Is the page/site stable? Can others access it easily?  Can you rely on this site?
• Are the links pertinent to the page topic(s)?
• Is the content comprehensive in scope?

Additional Sources:

Evaluating Internet Sites – http://www.lib.purdue.edu/InternetEval/ Brief tutorial overviews the concepts and criteria of evaluating Internet sites. The tutorial should not take you much longer than 20 minutes

Evaluating sources – http://core.lib.purdue.edu/ a module of CORE (Comprehensive Online Research Education).

Information evaluation guide: evaluating web sites - http://www.lib.purdue.edu/rguides/studentinstruction/evaluation/evaluatingwebsites.html Anatomy of a web site pinpointing location of criteria.