Ka-Neng Au Business Librarian au@rutgers.edu May 20, 2009

Learning Tools: Class Guides: Dana Class Guides:
Evaluation of Internet Resources

What makes a good website? The extensive use of the World Wide Web as a replacement for traditional libraries has led to the assumption that generally available information is both reliable and authoritative. Information presented in a digital or electronic format somehow seems more believable. However, appropriately using information in whatever format requires you to think critically about the source and content of that information resource. Below are examples and counter-examples for the main criteria that can help you critically analyze information resources found on the Internet.

Authority

• Who's responsible? (official/unofficial)
  
  • Census Bureau or John Kerry?
• How reliable? (authoritative/opinionated)
  
  • National Cancer Institute or Internet Health Resources

Content

• How comprehensive? (extensive/selective)
  • Labyrinth Library: Middle English Bookcase or Bartlett's Book of Familiar Quotations
• How current? (current/dated)
  • Foreign Exchange Rates or Small Business Profile of New Jersey 1995

Organizations

• What organization? (categorized/alphabetical)
  • International Affairs Resources or Central Banks Annual Reports
• How searchable? (search engine/site map)
  • Shareware.Com or The White House

How would you evaluate a website?

• How to Critically Analyze Information Sources (Cornell University Library)
• Evaluate Web Pages (Jan Alexander and Marsha Ann Tate, Widener University)
• Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources (Grassian, UCLA College Library)

How would you cite an electronic resource?

• Refer to our Style Manuals guide.