Currency

Here are some questions, written by Susan A.Gardner, Hiltraut H. Benham, and Bridget M. Newell in their 1999 article "Oh, What a Tangled Web We've Woven! Helping Students Evaluate Sources,” published in English Journal, that you should answer when determining the currency of a source:

• Is the date of the latest revision of the site clearly stated?

  • • Look at the webpage to find its current copyright/last revised date. Usually, this information is at the bottom of the page, and should be clearly labeled. If there is no last revised date or copyright year given, then the information may not be current. In a world where information changes quickly, it is best to use the most recent information possible.

• Is the date given for when the information was gathered?

  • • Why is this important? If the information was gathered years ago, it may no longer be accurate. From what year(s) are the sources the author references/cites? If they are old sources, then the information they provide may no longer be accurate.

• Is the page kept current?

  • • Why is this important? If the page is not kept current, then the author may not be a reliable authority on the subject as he may not care enough or do enough research to keep the information he provides current.

• Are the links current; i.e., do they really work?

  • • Why is this important? Broken links that are not quickly fixed may show that the website has not been updated in a long while. Webmasters of reliable sites are quick to fix broken links.

• Is this truly the latest information on the topic?

  • • Why is this important? It's always best to use the most current information on a topic so that you avoid giving old information that may have been proved wrong by new research.