ENGL 1127: Shakespeare  Tags: shakespeare english_literature theater linguistics_language_literature  

Evaluating Web Pages: Questions to Ask & Strategies for Getting the Answers:

An eight-point evaluation checklist from the UC Berkeley Library.

• What can the URL tell you?
• Who wrote the page? Is he, she, or the authoring institution a qualified authority?
• Is it dated? Current, timely?
• Is information cited authentic?
• Does the page have overall integrity and reliability as a source?
• What's the bias?
• Could the page or site be ironic, like a satire or a spoof?
• If you have questions or reservations, how can you satisfy them?

"What we find changes who we become." -- Peter Morville, Ambient Findability

Remember this old proverb? You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Scholars and researchers, professors and librarians, and books and search engines can lead you to information, but they can't make you THINK.

What have you found? 

Will it be useful to you?

Be Critical. 

Analyze and evaluate your search results. Have you found the most authoritative, accurate, objective, up-to-date, scholarly information available on your research topic?

• Why critical thinking?

   

• How to Critically Analyze Information Sources lists some of the critical questions you should ask when you consider the appropriateness of a particular book, article, media resource, or Web site for your research.

   

• Distinguishing Scholarly from Non-Scholarly Periodicals: A Checklist of Criteria shows how to evaluate periodicals by looking at their format, intended audience, and appearance.

   

• Evaluating Web Sites: Criteria and Tools lists ways to analyze the Web sites you find.

• See Evaluating Web Resources for additional information.

   

• Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Sites offers a table of suggestions.