How to Check the Reliability of Web Sources

The Internet contains a vast collection of highly valuable information but it may also contain unreliable, biased
information that mislead people. The following guidelines can help us check the reliability of web sources that
we gather. It is noteworthy to consider and apply the following guidelines to avoid misinformation. (Lee
College Library, n.d.)

1. Who is the author of the article/site?

 How to find out?

Look for an "About" or "More About the Author" link at the top, bottom, or sidebar of the webpage. Some
pages will have a corporate author rather than a single person as an author. If no information about the
author(s) of the page is provided, be suspicious.

✓ Does the author provide his or her credentials?

✓What type of expertise does he or she have on the subject he or she is writing about? Does he or she
indicate what his or her education is?

✓What type of experience does he or she have?

Should you trust his or her knowledge of the subject?

Try searching on the Internet for information about the author.

✓What kinds of websites are associated with the author's name? Is he or she affiliated with any educational
institution?

✓Do commercial sites come up? Do the websites associated with the author give you any clues to particular
biases the author might have?

2. Who published the site?

✓Look at the domain name of the website that will tell you who is hosting the site. For instance, the Lee
College Library website is: http://www.lee.edu/ library. The domain name is "lee.edu." This tells you that the
library website is hosted by Lee College.

Search the domain name at http://www.whois.sc/. The site provides information about the owners of
registered domain names. What is the organization's main purpose? Check the organization's main website, if
it has one. Is it educational? Commercial? Is it a reputable organization?

Do not ignore the suffix on the domain name (the three-letter part that comes after the "."). The suffix is
usually (but not always) descriptive of what type of entity hosts the website. Keep in mind that it is possible for
sites to obtain suffixes that are misleading. Here are some examples:

.edu = educational

.com = commercial

.mil = military

.gov=government

.org = nonprofit
3. What is the main purpose of the site? Why did the author

write it and why did the publisher post it?

 To sell a product?

 As a personal hobby?

 As public service?

 To further scholarship on a topic?

 To provide general information on a topic?

 To persuade you of a particular point of view?

4. Who is the intended audience?

 Scholars or the general public?

 Which age group is it written for?

 Is it aimed at people from a particular geographic area?

 Is it aimed at members of a particular profession or with specific training?

5. What is the quality of information provided on the website?

 Timeliness: When was the website first published? Is it regularly updated? Check for dates at the
bottom of each page on the site.

 Does the author cite sources? Just as in print sources, web sources that cite their sources are
considered more reliable.

 What type of other sites does the website link to? Are they reputable sites?

 What types of sites link to the website you are you are evaluating? Is the website being cited by others?

Examples of Useful and Reliable Web Sources

1. AFA e-Newsletter (Alzheimer's Foundation of America newsletter)

2. American Memory - the Library of Congress historical digital collection.

3. Bartleby.com Great Books Online -a collection of freee-books including fictions, nonfictions, references,
and verses.

4. Chronicling America - search and view pages from American newspapers from 1880-1922.

5. Cyber Bullying - a free collection of e-books from ebrary plus additional reports and documents to help
better understand, prevent and take action against this growing concern.

6. Drug information websites:

a. National Library of Medicine's MedlinePlus

b. Drugs.com

c. PDRhealth
 7. Global Gateway: World Culture & Resources (from the Library of Congress)

8. Google Books

9. Googlescholar.com

10. History sites with primary documents:

 AMDOCS: Documents for the study of American history

 Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy (Yale Law School)

 Internet Modern History Sourcebook:Colonial Latin America

 Teacher Oz's Kingdom of History

11. Illinois Digital Archives - the Illinois State Library working provides this collection of materials related to
Illinois history 12. Internet Archive - a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form.

13. Internet Archive for CARLI digitized resources

14. Internet Public Library

15. ipl2 a merger of Librarians' Internet Index and Internet Public Library. Special interest may include the
"Literary Criticisms" page which can be found after clicking on the "Special Collections" link.

16. Librarians' Internet Index

17. Making of America - a digital library of primary sources in American social history.

18. Maps from the University of Texas at Austin collection. Includes historical and thematic maps.

19. NationMaster - a massive central data source and a handy way to graphically compare nations. It is a vast
compilation of data from such sources as the CIA World Factbook, UN, and OECD.

20. Nursing sites:

 AHRQ (www.ahrq.gov)

 National Guidelines Clearinghouse

 (www.guideline.gov)

 PubMed (www.nlm.nih.gov)

21. Project Gutenberg - the first and largest single collection of free electronic books with currently over
20,000 e-books available.

22. Shmoop literature, US history, and poetry information written primarily by PhD and masters students from
top universities like Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, and Yale.

23. State Master - a unique statistical database which allows you to research and compare a multitude of
different data on US states using various primary sources such as the US Census Bureau, the FBI, and the
National Center for Educational Statistics. It uses visualization technology like pie charts, maps, graphs, and
scatter plots to provide data.

24. Virtual Reference - selected web resources compiled by the Library of Congress.
One can also visit the university library and seek help from librarians as they are knowledgeable and the library
has a rich collection of online library resources that are very useful for academic and research purposes.

SUMMARY

Nowadays, information could be shared or transferred quickly. People are becoming more interested in sharing
information about themselves. Various aspects of our society are also being influenced by the Information Age
especially communication, economics, industry, health, and the environment. The rapid upgrade of
information poses both positive and negative impacts to our society. Therefore, we need to carefully check our
motives before disseminating information and we also need to verify information before believing them and
using and sharing them. We should share information that could help improve our lives and others.

THINK ABOUT THESE QUESTIONS

1. Who are the contributors of the technological advances of the Information Age?

2.

Aside from communication, what other aspects of society is/ are being influenced in the Information Age?

3.

What other technological advancements can possibly be developed in the future?

Chapter III: Specific Issues in Science, Technology, and Society

119