Evaluating WWW Resources
Drawing a Conclusion
Let's say you've located a web page you want to use as a resource for a report you're doing. You've looked at the address of the site, assessed the content, evaluated the information available about the author, determined if the page is recent, and assessed the links. You've come up with the following results:
| Attribute | Observation | Conclusion |
|---|---|---|
| domain | matches content presented; not a personal web page | reliable |
| content | well-written, does not contradict current knowledge, but contains author bias | questionable |
| author | name & email address provided, no credentials given | questionable |
| revision date | revision date is 1 year ago; document is not time-sensitive | reliable |
| links | no links exist on the page | no effect on reliablility |
Now what?
The decision you're trying to make is whether the web page is suitable for use as a resource for your research. If a web page is considered unreliable in any of the categories above, it shouldn't be used. If a web page is questionable in more than two categories, it shouldn't be used. If it is questionable in one or two categories, it should be used with caution. Only pages which are reliable in ALL categories can be used without reservation.
According to these criteria, the page described in the table above could be used with caution, because none of the categories resulted in an "unreliable" conclusion, and there were two questionable categories.