GUIDELINES FOR ELECTRONIC RESEARCH

EVALUATING A WEBSITE

The web contains excellent and useful sources, dishonest and inaccurate sources, and everything in between. While there is no perfect formula for evaluating a website, there are some specific signs of good and bad websites. The general question you should ask is this: can I defend my use of this source?

What websites can I use?

Here are some signs to look for in a good website:
• The author of the site is an expert on the subject.
• The website is sponsored by a known, reputable institution (publisher, news org., university).
• The website includes information on the author and / or the sponsoring institution
• The site URL shows it to be from an educational or governmental institution (.edu and .gov)
• The website is up to date and includes the date of its last update.

What websites should I avoid?

Avoid any website that falls under one or more of these categories:
• k-12 websites (websites authored by high school classes)
• websites with no authors or sponsoring, reputable institutions
• personal web pages (such as anything with geocities or angelfire in the URL)
• websites with clear bias or that seem designed to manipulate the issue
• websites with advertising related to the topic

May I use Wikipedia as a source?

No. Because Wikipedia is a massively authored website, it should not be seen as authoritative. You may look for basic ideas and information on Wikipedia if you must, but you may NOT use it as a source. If you want to use something you found on Wikipedia then you must find it in another source.

May I use AskJeeves or InfoPlease as sources?

Yes, but these sources are very general in nature and so aren’t any better than a basic encyclopedia. They will give you a general overview of a topic but little or none of the in-depth analysis or interpretation that you might need for a rigorous research project.

How can I possibly survive without Google, Wikipedia, and AskJeeves?!!

The internet has made a lot of things in life easier, but there are no shortcuts when it comes to good research. You still need to make focused searches and use well respected, peer reviewed academic sources.

• BOOKS - A good library with a helpful librarian can usually get you better resources faster than you can get online.

• DATABASES - InfoTrac and other electronic databases provide huge amounts of focused, respected resources like academic journal articles. You can access these databases from our library.