Evaluating Sources :::

The Five W’s for Evaluating Web Sites

I found it on the Internet – it must be true, right? Not necessarily! Remember – anyone can say anything they want and post it on a web site.   It is your responsibility to read, evaluate and verify the information you find. As you search, use the Five W’s to determine authority, objectivity, currency, accuracy, and coverage.

⇒      Who is the author of the page?

⇒      What does the author say is the purpose of the page?

⇒      When was the page created, updated and last worked on?

⇒      Where does the information come from?

⇒      Why is the information useful for my topic? 

Use this Website Evaluation Form as a checklist.

More Information on Evaluating Web Sites

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly  
Follow the links given for each evaluation question for terrific examples of why you want to ask this.

Kathy Schrock's ABC's of web evaluation

Widener University Evaluation Web Pages  

U of Southern Maine checklist