LibGuides: COM 3334: Evaluating Websites

How do I evaluate a website? Should I use it?

What is the purpose? Advocacy, Mislead, Opinion, Persuation, Cause, Lobbying, Selling, Product, Marketing, Business, News- Current or Past, Personal Agenda or Interest, Information about Person, Place or Thing (Nouns) & Entertainment.

Purdue OWL: Internet References
How to evaluate web resources.
Evaluating Websites from Baylor University Libraries
Evaluating Web Pages from UC Berkley
Evaluating Websites from Olin & Uris Libraries at Cornell.edu

Example Sites:

NCAA.com
Bottom of the page states- NCAA.com is a part of Bleacher Report - Turner Sports Network, part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Network."
NCAA.org
From the Website-"The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a membership-driven organization dedicated to safeguarding the well-being of student-athletes and equipping them with the skills to succeed on the playing field, in the classroom and throughout life."
Snopes.com or Rumor Has It...
About Snopes--http://snopes.com/info/faq.asp
Wikipedia.org
DO NOT EVER USE as an authoritative source: From ABOUT section- "Wikipedia is written collaboratively by largely anonymous volunteers who write without pay. Anyone with Internet access can write and make changes to Wikipedia articles, except in limited cases where editing is restricted to prevent disruption or vandalism. Users can contribute anonymously, under a pseudonym, or, if they choose to, with their real identity."
Instructions for Baylor Professors to create their own WebPages.
Ohio Universities Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Ohio.gov)
From site-"The ETD Center is a free, online database of Ohio's undergraduate, masters and doctoral theses and dissertations from participating OhioLINK member schools. It contains the abstract for all included theses and dissertations. The full-text is also available if it was submitted."
Census.Gov
more...less...
Remember this data was collected in 2000. Call City, County and State Government offices for updated information.

Search Example: On the top right locate the Population Finder. Run Zip Code and State. Run an Address Search. Click on Census Track. Find Fact Sheet.

Evaluating Results

Evaluating the Internet:

Beware or sites that have a tilde or ~ in the URL address.
The best sites are from .edu (university) .gov (government document) sites.
Check to see who is sponsoring the site. Use well known sites with good reputation.
Look for advertising on the site. Make sure the material is not just a carefully disguised advertisement. More scholarly sources will not have advertising.
Check for a bias or slant. Make sure the source is not an editorial.
The site should site an author. Sometimes the author can be an organization etc.
Date last modified. Check for the latest update of the site. One does not want to use material from a "dead" or non maintained site.

Notes from class 2015

Dr. Mater Spring 2015 Class