| AUTHORITY |
 |
Is it clear who sponsors the creation and maintenance of the page? |
| |
|
Is there
information describing the sponsor (its purpose, address, telephone number,
etc.) |
| |
|
Is it
clear who developed and wrote the material? Is the author's professional
or institutional affiliation given? |
| |
|
Is the
site cataloged or recommended by a reliable source, e.g., the Librarians'
Index to the Internet. |
| |
|
Is the
information from a reputable university, library, organization or government
agency? |
| |
|
If the
information is found on a commercial site, can you be fairly sure it is
factual? |
| OBJECTIVITY |
|
Does the
author or sponsor of the site have a vested or commercial interest in the
topic? Does the information seem biased? |
| |
|
Is the
information factual or opinion? If the information is opinionated, is that
made clear? |
| |
|
Is the
information provided as a public service? |
| |
|
Is there
advertising on the page? |
| |
|
If there
is advertising, is it clearly separated from the informational content? |
| RELIABILITY |
|
Is there
a creation and/or revision date? |
| |
|
Is there
an e-mail address to contact the author or sponsor? |
| |
|
Are there
links back to the main page? Links to other pages within the site? Links
to outside sites? Are most links in working order? |
| CAUTIONS |
|
Be sure
to copy the document's URL, the last revision date, and the date you found
the document. |
|
|
You might
want to print a hard copy of the document (or save it to disk) in case your
professor wants some proof it existed if she can't find it again. |
For a more in-depth
discussion of evaluating Internet sources, see the UNF Library's LIS1001 Notes
- Evaluating
Sources - A Checklist for Electronic Resources.
Some guides use the free Adobe Acrobat Reader
to access portable document files (pdf).
|
