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Evaluating Websites on the Internet

As you use Google, Yahoo and others to search the Internet, consider the following points:

Who is responsible for the website?
 Can you find a name of an author or organization?  If you can’t, be suspicious.  If you can, what additional information is provided?  What are the author’s credentials? Is there contact information? What is the URL domain? (NOTE: .gov = U.S. federal, state and local government sites, .mil = U.S. military sites, .edu = educational sites, .org, = organizational sites, .net and .com are commercial sites and two letter domains are sites from foreign countries.)

Domain name isn’t always an indicator of reliability. 
The U.S. Postal Service is an example of a reliable .com site.  It uses a .com address because it is an independent agency.  In addition, not all .edu sites are reliable. For example, most students at colleges and universities are given their own web pages, which have an .edu domain.

If something looks funny about a site, don’t use it. 
Look at the RTY Hospital site. Examine it closely. Does it look like a real hospital site? What is suspicious about it? Many sites like this exist.  Many other sites try to take advantage of an official site. For example, look at www.postalservice.com.

Is the site accurate?
Look carefully at the information to see if it is accurate, unbiased and well-documented. Some sites may look authoritative, but may present just one side of an issue or present a personal opinion as if it were fact.

Is the site up-to-date?
Look for the “last updated” dates on the website to learn when it was first published and when it was last updated. Be suspicious if no date is given. Look for advanced search features in your favorite search engines that let you limit searches to recently updated web pages. 

Is the content useful?
Check the content to see if is effective, detailed and verifiable. Can you find the same information in other sources? Can you email the author and learn for more information?

Search engines do not provide access to everything on the Internet.
First use the Subject Directories and Best of the Web listings found under Web Sites on the NOVA Libraries Home Page for direct access to some excellent websites. Google, Yahoo, etc. only index some of the websites available on the Internet.