Evaluating Internet Information

There is a vast amount of information available on the Internet. The quality of information sources varies immensely in the unfiltered environment of websites and other Internet resources. Some of that information may be valuable to your research project but there is much that is inaccurate, unreliable, biased, and unauthoritative. Unlike print media (books, journals, newspapers) there are no editorial controls in place to filter Internet information. Therefore, it is important that you critically evaluate the information and its source as you search the internet.

Who can publish on the world wide web? Anyone! The democratic nature of the web is part of its appeal, but with this young medium the editorial process of the print world is lost. Many of the controls or editing features that refine traditional print literature are not evident on the Internet. There are no editors or publishers checking the facts and information for accuracy and reliability. The peer review process present in journal publication is not prevalent on the web. You must be the evaluator and judge the information and its source.

Don't let technology camouflage poor content. Websites may look good visually but that doesn't necessary equate with good information and content. Don't be swayed by fancy design features that may give a site an attractive, glitzy, or professional look but at the same time mask the lack of valuable content. The old adage "Don't judge a book by its cover." can be updated to "Don't judge a website by it graphics and Java applications". Design features can be distracting.

Use criteria to evaluate Internet resources. This tutorial will give you some evaluation criteria to help you judge the quality of a website and its information and to determine if the information is appropriate for your research. We will also point out some searching tools that can help you locate quality, reviewed sites and other websites that provide evaluation checklists.

At the bottom of each page, you will see links that will take you back to the beginning of this tutorial or to the Next Page. You may also choose to leave the tutorial and return to the Passports Research Guides page.

Ready? Let's go to the next section.