How to evaluate an internet source in less than 90 seconds at Houston Community College

1. evaluate an internet
source in ninety seconds
or less
(evaluating sources tutorial
@HCC Libraries)

2. When you’re bogged down with
research, it’s tempting to skip
evaluating just 1 little website...
(Or 10...)

3. When you’re bogged down with
research, it’s tempting to skip
evaluating just 1 little website...
(Or 10...)
but you can evaluate a page in less than 90
seconds!

4. Step 1: Dissect the URL
http://www.hostname.domain/
therestoftheurl.filetype

5. Step 1: Dissect the URL
• What’s the domain, or end of the main
website address?
http://www.hostname.domain/therestoftheurl.filetype
.gov = governmental source
.edu = educational source
.org = usually a nonprofit, noncommercial source
.mil = military source
.mobi = mobile site

6. Step 1: Dissect the URL
• What’s the end of the url, or file type?
http://www.hostname.domain/therestoftheurl.filetype
• Is it a standard HTML source?(e.g. http://
www.asu.edu/lib/tutorials/evalutate-sources/
or hccs.edu/tutorial.html)
• Or a special file type like .pdf, .ppt, .xls,
or .doc?
• Knowing this gives you a hint of the format or
type of information the page provides.

7. Step 1: Dissect the URL
• What about the rest of the URL?
http://www.hostname.domain/therestoftheurl.filetype
• Does it flow?
• How long is it & does it sound like the
organization makes sense?
• Look at http://www.post.edu/maincampus/library/
Evaluating%20Information%20Sources.pdf V.
doctorwholover.com/tradisfiles/lincolnspresidency.com
Which sounds like a better source?

8. Step 2: Identify the author
• Look for any page that talks about a Mission
Statement, About or About Us, Philosophy,
Board of Directors, Staff, Legal disclaimers,
profiles
• Try looking up at the site in https://
easywhois.com or Google to see who owns
the site or what the organization is.

9. Step 3: Study the design
• Does it look professional, or like someone
with a poor knowledge of HTML put it
together?
• Does it look like a typical template, like those
found on free sites?
Remember, a professional-looking site can
still be a hoax, but few legitimate sites
have poor HTML.

10. Step 4: Scan the content
• Do you see typos, grammatical errors, or
HTML errors?
• Do you see many opinions & few facts? Or
opinions stated as facts?

11. Step 5: Look for resources
• Do you see any references or sources cited?
• Links to additional resources?

12. Step 6: Check the dates
• When was the website published?
• When was it last revised or edited?
• Has the site published anything recently?

13. Step 7: Does it seem legitimate?
Investigateitfurther!

14. review
1. Dissect the URL
2. Identify the author
3. Study the design
4. Scan the content
5. Look for resources
6. Check the dates
7. Seems legitimate? Put it on a list &
investigate further.

15. Find out more with HCC Libraries
@library.hccs.edu

16. Thanks to Reference Librarian Shannon Nelson
Betts, MLS, MAT at Post University Library, whose
“Evaluating Websites Quickly: 5-minutes (or less)
clues to Credibility” helped inspire this.