Research Guides: Web Searching and Web Evaluation: Web Evaluation

Evaluation of Websites

With the explosion of information found on the web from various sources, searching the web for additional information is now part of everyone's research process. The Internet offers fast, easy access to full-text content. But beware! The web is unmonitored and unorganized. Not all information is created equal and not all websites are created equal.

The WCC librarians highly recommend that you begin your research with reliable articles and books to gain a solid background about your subject. With that knowledge, evaluating the web becomes much easier. Start your research at the Bailey Library website.

Remember, anyone with a little knowledge on how to design a web site can create content for the web. No one polices the web for "bad" information, e.g. no peer review, no editing, no review process at all. The web does not follow the strict publishing guidelines created by the publishers for print publications such as books, journal articles, documents, etc..

Also, remember that there is a lot of valuable information on the web. Learning to search more effectively is the key to finding the quality information on the Web.

Why Use the Web?

Go with the strengths of the Web

•To obtain information on colleges, universities,museums, non-profit organizations, or companies
•To find very current information such as news, sports scores, weather, stock quotes
•To find research conducted by national associations or organizations
•To research a well-known event or individual, literary or popular quotations, and lyrics
•To find opinions on a topic
•To locate online job postings, shopping, auctions or travel services
•To find government information
•To find statistics
•To find phone books, dictionaries, weather, maps,
•To find images, audio and video files
•To use social networking services such as Facebook, Twitter...

Stop and Think! Before Using the Web

Stop and think! There are better places to look than the Web

To find articles published in popular, professional, and scholarly journals use WCC Bailey Library Research Databases.
Use information based on evidence. Evidence based information is published in scholarly articles.
To find books on your topic, search WCC Bailey Library Online Catalog
To search databases that index articles in many academic disciplines
To find statistics

The Web is not the place to start your research for scholarly articles. You may use Google Scholar as a index to identify scholarly articles, but most likely you will not find the complete full text to the scholarly articles on the Web. Use the WCC Bailey Library Research Databases.

Library homepage

CRAAP Test

When you search for information, you're going to find lots of it... but is it good information? You will have to determine that for yourself, and the CRAAP Test can help. The CRAAP Test is a list of questions to help you evaluate the information you find. Different criteria will be more or less important depending on your situation or need.

Use the CRAAP Test questions to ask yourself when deciding whether or not a source is reliable and credible enough to use in your academic research paper or speech.

CRAAP stands for Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose. Use the CRAAP Test below to evaluate the information you find.

The CRAAP Test for Evaluating Information is from Meriam Library, California State University, Chico

Currency

The timeliness of the information

When was the information published or posted?
Has the information been revised or updated?
Does your topic require current information, or will older sources work as well?
Are the links functional?

Another thing to consider - does the website's copyright date match the content's currency? Or is it just a standard range?

Relevance

The importance of the information for your needs.

Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question?
Who is the intended audience?
Is the information at an appropriate level (i.e. not too elementary or advanced for your needs)?
Have you looked at a variety of sources before determining this is one you will use?

Authority

The source of the information.

Who is the author/publisher/source/sponsor?
What are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations?
Is the author qualified to write on the topic?
Is there contact information, such as a publisher or email address?
Does the URL reveal anything about the author or source? examples: .com .edu .gov .org .net

Note - to help answer Authority and Purpose questions, check out a website's About page.

Accuracy

The reliability, truthfulness and correctness of the content.

Where does the information come from?
Is the information supported by evidence?
Has the information been reviewed or refereed?
Can you verify any of the information in another source or from personal knowledge?
Does the language or tone seem unbiased and free of emotion?
Are there spelling, grammar or typographical errors?

Purpose

The reason the information exists.

What is the purpose of the information? Is it to inform, teach, sell, entertain or persuade?
Do the authors/sponsors make their intentions or purpose clear?
Is the information fact, opinion or propaganda?
Does the point of view appear objective and impartial?
Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional or personal biases?

Note - to help answer Authority and Purpose questions, check out a website's About page.

What does the HON Code mean?

Health Website Evaluation Tool
Provides advise to patients on the safe use of the Internet for health information.
What does the HON code mean?
"HON was founded to encourage the dissemination of quality health information for patients and professionals and the general public, and to facilitate access to the latest and most relevant medical data through the use of the Internet."
HONcode Site Evaluation Form
Answer questions to help you evaluate the website.

Evaluating Health Information on the Web

CAM Basics: Evaluating Web-based Health Resources
This short guide outlines things to consider in your evaluation of health related web sites.
Evaluating Health Information on the Web from MedlinePlus
A service from the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. An excellent site for health professionals and the general public on how to evaluate health information. Includes a tutorial on how to evaluate health information and many documents on how to find health information.
Guide to Healthy Web Surfing
From MedlinePlus. "What should you look for when evaluating the quality of health information on Web sites? Here are some suggestions based on our experience."
Health Website Evaluation Tool
"This page helps you evaluate the quality, credibility, and transparency of a health website by guiding you through questions related to the HONcode principles and the EU Quality Criteria for Health-related Websites. "
A User's Guide to Finding and Evaluating Information on the Web
"The guide is presented in three brief sections. The first section, "Getting Started," provides tips on filtering the millions of health-related web pages through the health subsets of major search engines and using quality electronic finding tools developed by the U.S. government to do an initial screen of websites for further examination. This section is followed by a set of guidelines developed for evaluating the content of health-related websites. The final section provides additional information of interest to consumers searching for health-related information on the web."