Are the author's name and credentials
stated? Look for evidence that the information was
written by experts.
Has the author cited his/her sources?
Experts should list the sources they used.
Is there an email address for the author?
(Look for a link marked CONTACT.)
The domain is a clue, but NOT the
whole solution!
.edu - colleges, universities
and some secondary schools
BUT is there a ~ (tilde) in the URL? This indicates
someone's personal web page, and it could be written
by a student, not an expert.
.org - nonprofit organizations
BUT you will need to look deeper to know if you'll
find good information for your research. Hate groups
can be nonprofit organizations!
.gov - government
agencies, who gather huge amounts of information
BUT be sure the information is current enough.
.com - commercial
businesses
BUT The New York Times and other news
organizations are commerical web sites.
The Organization
Some organizations are well known for
expertise in a particular field, like NASA for astronomy
and space questions. If you are not familiar with
the sponsoring organization, do some detective work
to learn about them. Look for the ABOUT link.
Do reputable web sites link to this
one? To find out which web sites link to Fay School,
go to Google and type link:http://www.fayschool.org
in the search box. Try this with the web site you're
evaluating.
The
Author