Evaluating information
You've found resources, but how do you know whether they're reliable and accurate? Here is a brief overview of how to evaluate and assess information.
Assess the credibility of your resources
Learning to evaluate can be tricky, so we've put together a tool to get you started with evaluating resources for your assessments. Try out the Dependability Checklist.
What to look for when evaluating online sources
Author
- Can you identify who the author is?
- What authority does the author have?
- Do they have affiliations, credentials or a specific reason for publishing the information?
Type of Information
- Look at the URL or address. Where did the document originate?
- Is the information scholarly, governmental, from a private business or association, or an advertisement?
- Do other reputable Internet sites point to this one?
Purpose
- Is the author making an argument for personal gain, offering an opinion, giving a factual report or relaying a personal observation?
- Who is the intended audience?
Sources
- Is the information from original research, experiments, observation, interviews, books or documents?
- Are references provided?
Timeliness
- How old is the information?
- Has the content been updated recently?
If you can't find the answer to these questions, that may be reason enough not to use a particular website or resource.