Criteria for Evaluating Information on the Web: Authority

Use these criteria to assist you evaluating the authority of a source.

• Who is the author?
  • Is it clear who is responsible for the contents of the page?
  • What experiences or formal credentials does the author have?
  • Can you contact the author?

• Who published the Web document?
  • Was this site developed by an academic institution or commercial organization with an established reputation in the topical area?
  • Is there a sponsoring organization? If so what is its purpose?

Where to Look

• The author or contact is usually located in the footer of the document.
• Check for a link to the author's personal homepage or author's institutional affiliation. It is usually located in the header or footer.
• Check the URL (Uniform Resource Locator).
  • EDU = educational institution, e.g. ups.edu
  • COM = commerical organization, e.g. microsoft.com
  • ORG = non-profit organization, e.g. npr.org
  • GOV = governmental organization, e.g. senate.gov
  • NET = network, e.g. internic.net
  •  ~ (tilda) personal name= personal homepage, e.g. /~smith/blacklist.html
• Look in traditional reference sources, like Who's Who in America, Contemporary Authors, or Encyclopedia of Associations.
• Look for a link to "About Us," Biography," or "Philosophy."
• Try truncating elements of the URL.
• Check Internic's Whois for information about the domain name.