Web Site Evaluation Checklist

The web can be a good source to get information, but you should always critically evaluate any site before relying on its content.

Use the following evaluation checklist to critically analyze web sites.

Authority
Objectivity
Currency
Accuracy

Need some help searching the web? Use a high quality search engines like the Librarians Index to the Internet or INFOmine to find websites, or Ask a Librarian for assistance.

For information on evaluating print sources, see the Print Evaluation Checklist.

Authority

• Remember, anyone can create a web site, so you must determine the author's credibility.
• Who is responsible for the content of the site?
• Can you truly distinguish between the webmaster and author?
• What are their qualifications for producing the content of the web page?
• What is their email address? Does it match the page's URL?
• Is the author sponsored by or affiliated by a respectable organization?
• Can you get this information somewhere else?

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Objectivity

Opinion and propaganda sites abound on the web, so read carefully for what is there and what is missing.

• What are the pages goals?
• Stated goals? Actual goals?
• Does this site seem overly biased?
• Are they trying to sell you a product or idea?
• Does the site have advertisements?
• Who funds the site?
• Are their any conflicts of interest in regards to the information they present and their source of funding or ideas they promote?

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Currency

Sites are often are put-up and neglected, so currency can be a tricky issue.

• When was the content produced?
• When was the pages content last updated?
• Do links to other sites work?

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Accuracy

Again, anyone can create a web site, and no one is necessarily checking for accuracy.

• Does the information ‘sound’ true to you?
• What is the depth of coverage (i.e. meta information, introductory information (common knowledge), only one side of argument, full coverage)?
• Can you corroborate this information elsewhere?

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