Areas and Questions to Consider
Authority & Credibility - Who publishes this web page?
- What makes the author(s) an authority on this subject?
-
Does the author(s) cite his/her experience/credentials?
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Are they accredited or endoresed by a reputable organization?
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If the site contains articles, do they contain footnotes? If so, does
material taken from other sources appear to be fully credited?
Scope,
Coverage, and Relevance - Who is the intended audience -
general, specialized readership, scholars, etc.?
- What is
the level of the material - basic, advanced, etc.?
- What
time period is covered?
- What geographical area is covered?
- Is this information a subset of a more comprehensive
source? If so, who abridged it and why?
Bias and Accuracy - How is the information presented - fact, opinion, propaganda,
etc.?
- If presented as fact, is it accurate?
- Is
there a bias - cultural, political, religious, etc.?
- If
so, is the bias clearly stated?
Currency / Timeliness -
Is there a date on the web page? If so, how current is the date?
-
How frequently is the web site updated?
- Is some of the
information obviously out of date?
Quality - What
was the quality of the research methodology?
- Did it use
accepted methodologies for its field, insofar as you know?
-
What is the validity?
- Is the article clearly written and
well-organized?
- Is new research being reported or is the
author reviewing previously conducted research?
- Does the
author agree or disagree with the majority iof other scholars in the
discipline?
- Is this the first article of its kind within
its discipline?
Commercialism - Is the presenter
selling something - a product, a philosophy, himself / herself?
-
Does the page have a corporate sponsor?
- Are there any
hidden costs?
- Do you have to enter personal identification
in order to proceed?
_______________________________________________________________ copyright Aline Soules 2011 under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/ |
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