Evaluating Resources

The URL (web address) and author information for a website reveal a lot about site reliability. Determining who created a website is critical in being able to judge its quality. Generally, anonymous information should not be used for academic research.

In evaluating a website's authority, consider the following questions:

1. What type of domain does the site come from?
   Government sites use .gov and .mil domains. Educational sites use the .edu domain. Non-profit organizations use .org and business sites use .com. Generally, .gov and .edu sites are considered more trustworthy than .org and .com sites. But that does not mean that .org and .com sites cannot be reliable, too.
   
   
2. Who "published" the site?
   The name between http:// and the first / usually indicates what organization owns the server the website is housed on. Learning about the organization that hosts a site can give you important information about the site's credibility.
   
   
3. Is it a personal website?
   Look for the names of companies that sell web space to individuals, like AOL or GeoCities. Also look for a tilde (~). Tildes are often used to signify a personal website. Personal sites are considered less reliable than sites supported by organizations.
   
   
4. Can you tell who (person or institution) created the site?
   Look at the very top or bottom of the webpage for a name, email address, or "About Us" or "Contact Us" link. If no or little information is given, think twice about using the site as a research source.
   
   
5. Are the author's credentials listed on the site?
   If you can't find these details on a site, try typing an author's name into a search engine to get biographical information.