Web Savvy -- Learn to evaluate web pages and more.
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Deciding whether to use a particular web page or include web pages at all in your research is difficult. Making this decision is easier if you think about what information you need and if you ask several basic questions.
Should you use the web at all? If you want copyrighted information such as books and journal or magazine articles, you will NOT find that information on the open or visible web. Copyright covers most material written after 1923. Most publishers have absolutely no interest in making this information freely available.
If you need books and journal articles, both GALILEO, which has licensed databases of copyrighted articles (and more), and GIL-Find, which lists Perimeter College and Georgia State's books, ebooks, and nonprint items, are far better resources.
To tell if a web page is reliable, look for the answers to several basic questions.
Who wrote your web page? Can you find an author's name at all? Does he or she use both his/her first and last names? People of stature want you to see them and find them. Such authors stand proudly behind their work. To provide information about an author, most web sites have an About or Contact link. Sometimes a site gives clues as to an author's qualifications.An absent author or one who refuses to leave his/her last name is usually not an author who is worth your trust.
To the right is a screen shot of a web site with author information prominently placed. Please click on the illustration to go to the page.
Who published your web page? Is it an organization or broadcaster whom you recognize? This includes: CNN, the BBC, the New York Times etc... as well as university departments and professional associations. Legitimate organizations, like individuals of stature, want you to see and find them. Legitimate publishers list a first name and last if they are individuals and a physical address if they are groups. To learn more about a web page publisher, click the About, Contact, or Mission link. A publisher without contact information is highly suspect.
To the left is is an image from a page with group author information near the bottom. About often goes by more than one name. To see the full page, click on the image.
What if you don't recognize the organization or individual that publishes your web page? Ask a librarian or professor for his/her opinion. Also compare the information on the page to what you have read in books and journals.
It
is surprisingly easy to find credible groups and organizations of which you have never heard. To your right is an image from a page by an organization that is probably not familiar. You can click on the screen shot to see the page. What else should you do?
Is your web page current? Check for the date of last revision or copyright. Sometimes webmasters post this. Check the dates of articles in the Works Cited or dates of current news links. Look for dead links and broken graphics. FireFox lets you see the last "date of modification" of any web page. This gives a fairly precise age. If you need current information, a page that has been left to rot for five years is not for you.
Are there pages you should always avoid?
Try not to use pages that are just advertisements. Some businesses offer excellent consumer information and even feature annual reports, but advertising spam wastes your time.
And of course, avoid term paper mills. The papers there are seldom free
and their quality is questionable. Feel free to click the image on the left and explore.
