Evaluating Web Based Materials

Evaluating web based resources is very similar to evaluating any resource. You must look at authority, objectivity, authenticity, reliability, timeliness, relevance, and efficiency.

Authority - You want to know who they author is and why they are writing the information. It is also important to consider the author’s background in the field in which they are writing.
look for author information on the website ... is an author even given?
Objectivity - You need to think about where the information is coming from and if that source has a bias. You need to acknowledge if the information is fact or opinion and if other theories or opinions.
One thing you can do is look at the URL. If it is “.com” it is a commercial site; “.edu” is educational; “.gov” is a government site; “.org” is from an organization; “.net” is miscellaneous; and “.mil” is maintained by the military.
Authenticity - You want to know if the information is a primary source or a secondary one. See if the information has been reviewed by others for accuracy.
is it peer reviewed or a place with comments or feedback?
Reliability - Is the information that you are looking at accurate? Think about who is sponsoring the website (school, organization, business) the information and what their motive is (sell, inform, persuade.)
is there a bibliography? a corporation or
Timeliness - Look at when the information was published and if the links are current.
is there a copyright or publish date?
Relevance - Decide wether the information on the site is relevant to your research. You want to think about wether it is at the appropriate level with appropriate information. See if the site covers enough information and is in depth enough.

This is something that I have struggled a lot with since I took my position as elementary technology teacher. Both in looking for sources to teach and in reviewing sources the older students used for projects. I think it all comes back to realizing that just because you found it on the internet it may not be true.

One debate on this topic that I find really interesting is the debate over the accuracy of Wikipedia. Judging from this criteria it seems that Wikipedia would be a good source. It is intended for informing and is maintained and peer reviewed constantly. Although some people may have a bias one way or the other in most instances it represents multiple viewpoints. There are links that cite where the information is coming from and a lot of time links about who wrote the article.