MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Location: file:///C:/0AC7B2F9/ST-LEOCredibility.htm Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii"

3DLEO

LEO: Lite= racy Education Online

Assessing the Credibility of Online Sources

As online technology rapidly develops, the criteria for evaluating these sources develops as well. Online sources are so new that their status as academic sources is not fully established; therefore, you should verify that your professor will accept online sources before you invest time in browsing the Web or assessing the credibility of sources you find there.

Once you've determined that online sources can be used, you'll still nee= d to assess their credibility. The following criteria for assessing online sourc= es will help you to determine whether electronic sources are both professional= and appropriate for your paper. Keep in mind as you review these criteria that = many are based on standards used for traditional print sources; others are clear= ly relevant for electronic sources only.

Assessing an online source

Au= thorship

= Perspectives

Publishing Body/Publisher

Cov= erage

= Currency

= Accuracy or Verifiability

·  Authorship=

  • Is the author identifiabl= e? Never use a source whose author you cannot identify. If the author is = not clearly listed within the site, use the following techniques to locate= the author's name:
    • link back to the site's home page;
    • ask the Web development team or sponsoring organization to identify the author. <= /li>
  • Is the author a professio= nal in the field?
  • If the author's name is unfamiliar, is the site linked to an established authority on the subj= ect?
  • Has this author been refe= rred to favorably by respected professionals in the field or by a respectab= le Web site? Does the document contain links to these professionals or to= the respected Web sites? Are there also links from these sources that go b= ack to the site you're assessing?
  • Does the author include his/her e-mail address or a mail-to: so that you can contact the author directly from the site?
  • Does the author include a= way to contact him/her other than e-mail?
  • Does the Web site belong = to an individual, or is it part of a site maintained by an organization, academic institution, or other group? Does it list the author's positi= on within this group?

·  Publishing Body/Publisher

  • Is the type of material appropriate for the assignment? Professional sources from the Web incl= ude professional home pages or online professional journals. Non-professio= nal sources include personal home pages or online general audience magazin= es.
  • Is the site sponsored by a respected organization?
  • Does the site include an official insignia of the organization sponsoring it?
  • Are you able to contact t= he webmaster or sponsoring organization from within the site?

·  Currency=

  • Can you identify the date created as well as date(s) revised?
  • Does the site include inf= ormation on how often the site is updated?
  • Is a copyright date liste= d?
  • Is there evidence of what Martin Irvine calls "linkrot"? Linkrotted sites include links that no longer exist or have simply moved; this implies poor upkeep of= the site (138).

·  Perspectives=

  • Can you identify the goal= s of the site?
  • Are these goals clearly stated?
  • Does the focus of the text relate to the graphics in the site?
  • Is the perspective appropriate for your paper?
  • Are all sides of the issue fairly presented?

·  Coverage

  • Is there an in-depth understanding of the related issues that shows the author's familiarity with the subject?
  • Does the site include internal links that provide quick reference to the main sections of the document? Internal links show the author has given attention to the potential needs and questions a reader might have.
  • Does the site acknowlege other sources within the text itself? Are there also links to these sources if they exist online?
  • Is the bibliography compl= ete and thorough? Are links provided to the sources that are available onl= ine?
  • Are the appropriate theor= ies, schools of thought, or techniques used in the discussion of the materi= al standard in the field?
  • If the material is based = on a new theory, is coverage of the new approach detailed? Does the site co= ver the advantages and disadvantages of the method compared to other curre= nt methods in the field?

·  Accuracy or verifiability

  • Is the material comparabl= e to related sources? The home page of an authority in the field will provi= de a good base of sources to use as a comparison for other sources.
  • Is the methodology given = so that the author's work can be replicated or evaluated?
  • Does the source include a bibliography and/or citations that can be used for comparing or verify= ing data and other information?
  • Are there links from the citations or the bibliography to the original documents?
  • Is the information in the text poorly presented compared to the graphics?
  • Do many mechanical errors (e.g., grammatical errors, typos, etc.) appear in the text? Errors sug= gest the author might be careless in presenting information.
  • Did you discover the site= via a search engine? If so, how does the search engine you used look for information and, if relevent, rate the sites it retrieves?

A few cautionary notes on saving Web materials

Saving to disk or printing a copy of the "pages" you plan to u= se as source material is a good idea for two reasons. First, if the site is ta= ken off the Web, the source material will still be available to you. Second, you can use this print or disk copy of the "pages" to enable readers = to verify the credibility of the site if they're unable for any reason to acce= ss it online. If you print a hard copy of the pages, go to page layout on your computer and specify that you want the date you accessed the site, the name= of the site, and the URL to appear in the header or footer of the hard copy. If you save your copy of these pages to disk, add this information to your file copy so that it's available when you're ready to document your source.

Finally, go back to the print source if possible. Use and document this version since the print copy is still considered by many to be the authoritative version of the resource for academic purposes.

References

Alexander, Jan and Marsha Tate. "Evaluating Web Resources."15 Feb. 2004.

http://www2.widener.edu/Wol= fgram-Memorial-Library/webevaluation/webeval.htm.

Grassian, Esther. "Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources." 15 Feb. 2004.

http://www.library.ucla.edu= /libraries/college/help/critical/index.htm.

Irvine, Martin. Web Works. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, I= nc. 1997.

Kirk, Elizabeth E. "Evaluating Information Found on the Internet." 1996. Sheridan Libraries. 2004= .

http://www.library.jhu.edu/researchhelp/general/evaluating/index.html

For additional references on assessing Internet sources, see the "Webliography

on Validating Web Sites" available at http://we= b.stcloudstate.edu/jmkilborn/webvalidation.html.

Return to the Write Place Catalogue

For questions and suggestions, please e-mail Judith Kilborn.

© 1997= -2005, The Write Place

3D"LEO:

This handout was adapted from the above references by Kaaren Struthers for the W= rite Place and LEO, St. Cloud<= /st1:PlaceName> State University. It was updated by Judith Kilborn. This document may be copied for education= al purposes only. If you copy this document, please include our copyright noti= ce and the name of the writer; if you revise it, please add your name to the l= ist of writers.

Last update: 7 January 2005

URL: http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/research/credibility1.html