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Questions To Ask
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Significant Factors... |
| Accuracy |
- Are the
sources for any factual information clearly
listed so they can be verified in another source?
- Is the
information free of grammatical, spelling, and
other typographical errors?
- Is it clear
who has the ultimate responsibility for the
accuracy of the content of the material?
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- Almost
anyone can publish on the Web.
- Most Web
information is not verified by editors and/or
fact checkers.
- Errors not
only indicate a lack of quality control, but can
actually produce inaccuracies in information.
- Web
standards to ensure accuracy are not fully
developed.
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| Authority |
- What is the
nature and purpose of the page?
- Is it clear
who is sponsoring the page?
- Is there a
link to a page describing the purpose of the
sponsoring organization?
- Is there a
way of verifying the legitimacy of the
page’s sponsor? That is, is there a phone
number or postal address to contact for more
information? An email address is not enough!
- Is it clear
who wrote the material and are the author’s
qualifications for writing on this topic clearly
stated?
- If the
material is protected by copyright, is the name
of the copyright holder given?
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- Often
difficult to determine authorship of Web sources.
- If
author’s name is listed, his/her
qualifications frequently absent.
- Publisher
responsibility not often indicated.
- However, beware of
argumentum ad
hominem.
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| Objectivity |
- Is the
information provided as a public service?
- What biases
might the author(s) have?
- Is the
information free of advertising?
- If there is
any advertising on the page, is it clearly
differentiated from the informational content?
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- Goals/aims
of persons or groups presenting material often
not clearly stated.
- Web often
functions as a "virtual soapbox".
- However, beware of
argumentum ad
hominem.
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| Currency |
- Are there
dates on the page to indicate when the page was
written, first placed on the web, and last
revised?
- Are there
any other indications that the material is kept
current?
- If material
is presented in graphs and/or charts, is it
clearly stated when the data was gathered?
- If the
information is published in different editions,
is it clearly labeled what edition the page is
from?
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- Dates not
always included on Web pages.
- If
included, a date may have various meanings:
date information first written, date information
placed on Web, or date information last revised
- Netscape's
"View: Page Info" command may reveal
dates.
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| Coverage |
- Is there an
indication that the page has been completed and
is not still under construction?
- If there is
a print equivalent to the Web page, is there a
clear indication of whether the entire work is
available on the Web or only parts of it?
- If the
material is from a work which is out of copyright
(as is often the case with a dictionary or
thesaurus) has there been an effort to update the
material to make it more current?
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- Web
coverage may differ from print coverage.
- Often hard
to determine extent of Web coverage.
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