There are five main criteria for evaluating whether a website is suitable for research: relevancy, authority, objectivity, currency, and suitability. A researcher should consider whether the information is on-topic, who authored it and their credentials, whether it is fact-based or opinionated, how up-to-date it is, and whether it is at an appropriate level for the intended audience and purpose. Researchers should critically evaluate websites using these standards and determine if higher-quality sources exist before citing a website in academic work.

1. Why evaluate a web site? Putting documents on the web is EASY FREE or CHEAP Anyone can do it UNMONITORED Most pages on general search engines are self-published It is up to you to decide if the information on that site is worthwhile

2. How can you tell if a web site is a good one?

3. There are 5 main things to look at to be sure you can use a web site in a research paper

4. Look and evaluate! Consider…. 1. Relevancy 2. Authority 3. Objectivity 4. Currency 5. Suitability

5. Relevancy Is this information something I can use for my topic? Or is it off the subject? Does this information have enough detail to help me with my report?

6. Authority What kind of authority does the author have? Who authored the web site? What credentials are listed for the author(s)? Are the credentials reliable or questionable? Can the URL of the web site give us information? (.gov, .org., .edu) Are there links to further information?

7. Objectivity Why was this page written and for whom? What goals or objectives does this page meet? Is this page a mask for advertising? Is the information biased? Is the information based on facts or is it opinion? Many web sites are opinion pages.

8. Currency Is a publication date given? How up-to-date is the information? How important is the publication date for my topic? Are there any broken/dead links?

9. Suitability Is the web site good for some things and not good for other things? Is it written for students or for professionals? Can I understand what it says?

10. More things to think about!

11. Why was the page put on the web? To inform? To share? To sell? To persuade? To explain?

12. Now ask yourself…. Is the web site as good as other resources I might find in the library, such as subscription databases or print materials? Am I using the best sources available?

13. Finally…. Has the web site passed the evaluation process? Then you are ready to take notes!