Before you accept a web site as a valid source for reaseach you must ask WHO, WHAT, WHEN and WHY.

1. Who wrote/published the information on the site?

Because anyone can publish on the Web, it's important that you first identify the source—the author of the information on the site. Ask yourself:

• Who is the author/publisher? Is that source clearly identified on the site?
• Can I contact the author through an e-mail, phone number, or a mailing address?
• What are the author's credentials? Is he or she an expert in the subject I am researching?
• Is the site created or sponsored by a reputable organization? If so, can I confirm that the organization is a credible, authoritative source of information?

2. What information and resources does the site provide?

The information you find on a Web site does not necessarily pass through the hands of editors, fact-checkers, or reviewers, so it's up to you to determine the value of the site's content and presentation. Ask yourself:

Content

• What is the site's purpose: to persuade, inform, sell a product or entertain? Does the site achieve its purpose?
• Is the information on the site objective or biased? The site should present several authoritative viewpoints on the subject and not just one person's opinion.
• Does the site provide thorough coverage of the topic? Does it reference or link to other in-depth resources?
• Is the information on the site well written? Are there misspellings or grammatical errors?
• Does the site provide a Works Cited page or a bibliography? Can I verify that the resources the author consulted are reliable, thorough, and objective?
• Does the site feature graphics, video and audio clips, or animations? Do these multimedia elements help explain or clarify the site's topic?

Navigation and Presentation

It has become easier to create a well designed site that provides poor or questionable information. Some sites merely copy information from another source and repackage it on an advertising based web page. If the site is cluttered with ads and pop-ups you may want to look elsewhere.

• Does the site indicate when it was first created and last updated?
• Do the links work, or do they lead to error messages, such as "Page Not Found" ? Sites that are not regularly updated are likely to have more "broken links."

4. Where does the site "live"?

Look closely at the site's URL—specifically at the three-letter suffix known as an extension. For example, in the address www.archives.gov, the extension is .gov Sometimes, the extension can provide clues about the source of the site you are viewing.

Some Common Extensions

Government agency - .gov

Educational institution - edu

Organization (usually, though not always, nonprofit) - .org

Commercial business or personal Web site - .com

Military - mil

Watch Out! A site with the .gov extension signals a government agency, and therefore, probably has reliable and trustworthy information. However, it can be harder to determine whether sites with the .edu, .org, or .com extensions are quality ones. For example, the .edu extension indicates that a site is associated with an educational institution, but it doesn't tell you whether it's the official site of the history department or one created by a first-year student.

Remember—looking at the URL's extension can uncover clues about the quality of the site, but doesn't tell the whole story. To really determine whether the site is a good one, you'll need to ask the other 4 Ws: who? what? when? and why?

View these sample sites

source: www.mlushistory.com