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5. Evaluating Online Resources
Anyone can publish on the World Wide Web. This is both a strength and a flaw of the Internet. If you are going to use online sources, you must be aware of the differences in quality among Web sites. The following is a list of standards that you should use to judge any Internet source you use.
URL
• What is its domain?
• .com = a for-profit organization
• .gov, .mil, .us (or other country code) = a government site • .edu = an educational institution
• .org = a nonprofit organization
• Is this URL someone’s personal page? (Why might using information from a personal page be a problem?)
• Do you recognize who is publishing this page? If not, you may need to investigate further to determine whether the publisher is an expert on the topic.
Sponsor
• Does the Web site easily give information about the organization or group that sponsors it? • Does it have a link (often called “About Us”) that leads you to that information?
• What do you learn from that information?
Timeliness
• When was the page last updated (usually this is posted at the top or bottom of the page)? How current a page is may indicate how accurate or useful the information in it will be.
Purpose
• What is the purpose of the page?
• Who is the target audience?
• Does it present information or opinions? • Is it primarily objective or subjective?
• How do you know?
Author
• What credentials does the author have?
• Is this person or group considered an authority on the topic?
Links
• Does the page provide links?
• Do they work?
• Are they helpful?
• Are they objective or subjective?
Writing Workshop 6 • Research Writing 7
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