Evaluating Sources of Information: Sample Web Documents

Sample Web Documents

Try to evaluate the following Web documents using the Questions to Ask. Refer to Where to Look for Answers for tips. For more information, see Evaluating Sources of Information. For more samples, see Cutting Edge?, or Over the Edge?.

Web Documents for College Students:

• Academic Info: The Student Center
  
  
• All About College
  
  
• COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY RANKINGS
  
  
• CollegeClub.com: it's all U.
  
  
• Student.Com: It's What You Think

Web Documents on Affirmative Action:

• Affirmative Action Can't Be Mended
  
  
• Affirmative Action - Moral Compensation or Reverse Discrimination
  
  
• Affirmative Action or Equal Opportunity?
  
  
• Angry White Guys For Affirmative Action
  
  
• Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action By Any Means Necessary (BAMN)
  
  
• The Fallacy of Affirmative Action
  
  
• Ten Myths About Affirmative Action
  
  
• What Does Affirmative Action Affirm?
  
  

Web Documents on AIDS:

• Document #1
  
  
• Document #2

Web Documents on Global Warming:

• Global Warming
  
  
• Welcome to EPA's Global Warming Site!
  
  

Web Documents on Martin Luther King:

• The King Center
  
  
• Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Historical Examination
  
  
• The Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project

Web Documents on the Death Penalty:

• Death Penalty Information Center
  Select any of the links under Executions.
  
  
• National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
  Select any of the Fact Sheets.
  
  
• Pro-Death Penalty.com
  Select Info & Resources.

Miscellaneous Web Documents:

• California's Velcro Crop under Challenge
  
  
• Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division DHMO Homepage
  
  
• Feline Reactions to Bearded Men
  
  
• GenoChoice
  
  
• New Invention Allows Humans to Live Forever
  
  
• Primate Programming Inc. (PPI)
  
  
• White House

Questions to Ask

Who is responsible for publishing the information provided by the source? What are the credentials and affiliation or sponsorship of any named individuals or organizations? How objective, reliable, and authoritative are they? Is the author or contact person listed with addresses (street, e-mail)?

What can be said about the content, context, style, structure, completeness and accuracy of the information provided by the source? Are any conclusions offered? If so, based on what evidence and supported by what secondary and primary documentation? What is implied by the content? Is the content relevant to your information needs?

When was the information provided by the source published? Is the information provided by the source in its original form or has it been revised? Is this information updated regularly?

Where else can the information provided by the source be found? Is this information authentic? Is this information unique or has it been copied?

Why was the information provided by the source published? What are the perspectives, opinions, assumptions and biases of whoever is responsible for this information? Is anything being sold? Who is the intended audience?

Where to Look for Answers

Ideally, Web documents will include the following elements which can be used in the evaluation process:

1. Author or contact person with addresses (street, e-mail)
   
   
2. Document Uniform Resource Locator (URL), including an institutional identifier (e.g., an edu within a URL identifies the sponsoring institution as an educational institution)
   
   
3. Date of creation or revision
   
   
4. Link to sponsoring institution Web site

For more information on evaluating Web documents, see:

• Practical Steps in Evaluating Internet Resources
  
  
• Interpreting Web search engine results

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File saved 07/18/06 23:30 PDT