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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:


Web Documents on Affirmative Action:


Web Documents on AIDS:


Web Documents on Global Warming:


Web Documents on Martin Luther King:


Web Documents on the Death Penalty:


Miscellaneous Web Documents:


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:




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