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The best thing about the WWW - volumes of information on almost any imaginable topic - is also the worst thing about it. All this information means that it can be very difficult to sort the good information from the bad. The WWW has no editor to ensure that information published there is accurate and no librarian to make sure that information is organized into subjects so that it's easy to find
 
Therefore when using information found on the WWW it is very important to evaluate that information to make sure it is reliable. Use the table below to start evaluating your WWW resource:
authority
  • does the author's name appear on the web page?
  • what is the author's expertise on this particular subject?
  • what is the author's organizational affiliation?
  • is contact information available so that the author can be reached for questions?
bias
  • is the web site objective?
  • does the author's organizational affiliation make him/her biased?
currency
  • is there a date of creation or revision?
  • if the topic is timely, is the date recent?
  • are the links up to date? are there any dead links?
content
  • does the information provided seem logical?
  • is the information intended as an advertisement?
  • does the text follow the basic rules of grammar and spelling?
  • are citations given when facts and statistics are used?
domain
  • .edu = educational institution
  • .gov = government 
  • .mil = military
  • .com = commercial
  • .org = organization
 

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