Not all websites posted on the Internet hold information that is true. Students fall into the trap of believing everything they read online. It is important to use evaluation criteria to determine if a website is a credible source.
An easy set of evaluation criteria is the 5 W's (Who, What, Where, When, Why). Below are the questions students should ask themselves within each W.
WHO:
- Who is the author?
- Are they an expert in their field?
- Is there available contact information for the author?
WHAT:
- What does the URL ending tell you?
- .com- commerical use
- .net- network
- .org- organization
- .edu- higher education
- .gov- government entity
- What kind of information are you getting?
- Does the information seem accurate?
- What is the purpose of the site? (informational, personal bias)
WHERE:
- Where is this information coming from?
- Is the author listing sources for where they got their information from?
- Are there links to other sites listed? Do those links work or are they dead links?
WHEN:
- When was this information posted?
- When was the site last updated?
- Is this the most current version of this information?
WHY:
- Why was this site published?
- Why should you be using this site? Is it better than another displaying the same information?