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Evaluating a World Wide Web Site


Examine the information you find keeping these questions in mind:

Author

It is very important to evaluate the credentials of the author of the content of a Web page. What is the level of authority, expertise and responsibility the author has for the information? What perspectives, skills, or standards were employed by the author gathering and communicating the information? Is the content reviewed, critiqued or verified in any way? Do other authoritative sites link to the page?

  • Anonymous information is not good information. If you can't identify the author, organization or corporation that wrote the Web page or posted the information, the information is suspect.
  • Ways to find an author's credentials:
    • Look at the domain name to find more out about the author. Educational entities almost always have ".edu" in their addresses, while ".com" indicates that the information comes from a company. More information about domain names is available at http://www.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc1591.txt.
    • Examine other web page(s) on the site for information about the author. If you connect to a page that ends in ".html" deep within the Web site, try backing up to get information about the source of the Web site. You can jump up directory levels to try to find the main page by eliminating portions of the url. For example, jump up a level by cutting the "webanalysis.html" off the URL of this web page, and seeing what is at http://www.oberlin.edu/library/art/research/. Keep working your way back. In the case of this web site, the main page is at http://www.oberlin.edu/.
    • Use reference books to help verify the identity of a mysterious Web author. There are many excellent online and print directories available in the Libraries at Oberlin College. Look up your author in the printed Who's Who in American Art or The Directory of American Scholars or Contemporary authors (Online) and the Biography index (Online). Ask a librarian to assist you.
    • Check a catalog like OBIS, OhioLINK, WorldCat or RLIN to see if this is an area the author has written about before. Try an appropriate periodical index (like Art Abstracts) to see any articles or reviews by your author. The more an author has written on a topic, the more confidence you can have in the accuracy of their web site.

Validity of Publisher

The pages of authoritative and well known agencies such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the U.S. Census Bureau, a Fortune 500 company or Harvard University often provide more reliable information than the Web pages of a hobbyist dabbling in the subject area, or a special interest group such as Heaven's Gate.

  • Subscription databases that are purchased by Oberlin or other academic institutions are selective in what they include; resources found in these databases are thus more reliable. Examples of these databases are Art Abstracts, Lexis-Nexis Academic or links to web sites in OBIS.
  • Choose sources from established publishers over ones about which you know little. Check out the publisher's web site to see what type of material they produce. Use reference books in the library such as Literary Market Place (LMP), International Literary Market Place (ILMP), and International Directory of Little Magazines & Small Presses to find out more about a publisher.
  • Check out the server hosting a web site by jumping up directory levels (as described above).
  • Give preference to information from government agencies, trade and professional associations, major universities or organizations and research centers. Check out unfamiliar groups in reliable reference tools, such as the Encyclopedia of Associations.

Is the web site well maintained?

  • Are there many "dead" links? This could mean the site is run on limited resources. While this does not always mean the site is suspect, webmasters maintaining reputable and active sites often can fix dead links in a timely fashion.
  • What is the latest date of revision? Reliable sources list the dates that revisions are made on Web pages. The date should not be over one or two years old.

Is the information current, and is it important that the information be current?

The free web is a good resource, and in some ways the best resource, for very current information. For other research the free web has spotty coverage; some topics are covered well while others are barely mentioned. Likewise, scholarly information is not well-represented on the free web; most scholarly research is available via subscription databases or in print. Be sure to consult books, bibliographies and print indexes to journal literature, etc., if you need scholarly material.

  • Often the latest issue of a magazine is available on the Web before the library receives the print issue. However, in most cases, it is the library that will have back issues; free web sites often do not maintain archives of older issues of journals.
  • The Web is a good place to find the latest discussions and public opinions on an issue.
  • Lexis-Nexis Academic is a subscription service that provides very current articles from newspapers, magazines and wire services. Other news sources are also available freely on the Internet.

Bias and Objectivity

Does the author or publisher have a particular viewpoint that they seek to endorse? For example, a large tobacco company will present a perspective on smoking at their web site that varies from that of the American Cancer Society.

  • What are the biases and motivations of the compiler in gathering and publishing the data? Look for the stated purpose of the web site to determine if there is possibility of bias. If there is no stated purpose, you may be able to determine the purpose of the web site by investigating the publisher or author.
  • Information from businesses, political or pressure groups, listservs devoted to non-academic or research missions, newsgroups and advocacy groups often are biased towards that group's views.

Search Engines

A recent study by scientists at NEC Research Institute indicates that of the 800 million publicly available pages on the web, search engines provide access to about 16% of these pages. In addition, there is very little overlap in the pages that the major search engines cover in common.

  • While most search engines try to update their indexes to the web monthly, they lag behind at times. Use more than one search engine to compensate for lags in coverage.
  • Use several search engines for comprehensive searches of the Web. Some search engines are Google, Ask.com, Northern Light, Snap, HotBot and AltaVista.
  • Use metasearch services to search several search engines at once. Some metasearch services are Profusion, Metacrawler and Dogpile.
  • Use subject-based search engines when possible, such as MusicSearch.com or ARGOS (Ancient and Medieval). Search Engine Colossus lists search engines that cover specific subject areas.
  • Use web megasites such as Yahoo, the WWW Virtual Library or the Argus Clearinghouse that register and/or catalog new web sites by their subject area and content.

Did I get the best information, or did I miss some good Web sites?

  • Try one of the Oberlin College Library's Subject Guides. Librarians only list the best web sites on these guides.
  • Try one of the subject-based megasites such as Argus Clearinghouse, or the Librarian's Index to the Internet. They select the best web pages and/or sites according to their criteria, and group them by subject.
  • Look at reviews of the web sites.
  • You can't find it all in one web site or database. Every database has limitations; always try several sources, both electronic and print.
  • Maybe it's not on the Web. Many times the best sources are not available on the Web. There may be a more traditional source in the library that provides superior information, such as a book or a CD-ROM.

Questions? Ask at the local library Information/Reference Desk for help in evaluating your Web search!

University of Florida, Humanities and Social Sciences Services, Library West, George A. Smathers Libraries, Gainesville, Florida.

Revised 9 February 2001, Barbara Prior, Clarence Ward Art Library, Oberlin College.

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Last updated:
September 27, 2006
  
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