Evaluation of Web AND Print Resources

• SOURCE
  • Can you CLEARLY and QUICKLY identify the author of the printed source or creator of the web page?
  • The author or creator may be an organization or association.

• CREDENTIALS
  • Can you determine what the author's credentials are? Look to see if the author has written any other works, including books and periodical articles.
  • In the web page, is there an e-mail address for the author or creator?

• TYPE OF INFORMATION
  • Is the information scholarly, popular, governmental or from a private business?
  • Are the web pages entertainment, educational, business, personal pages or informative?

• PURPOSE
  • Is the author or creator making an argument for personal gain, offering an opinion, giving a factual report (such as news item) or relaying a personal opinion.
  • Can you identify objective writing (both sides of the argument) or a subjective bias (expressing one's own point of view)?

• SOURCES
  • Can you determine where the author gathered the information?
  • Is the material from original research, experiments, observation, interviews, books and documents?
  • Are secondary references (a bibliography, for example) provided?

• TIMELINESS
  • When and where was the material published?
  • Can you determine if the web page has been updated frequently (if necessary)?

• STYLE
  • Is the style of the author or creator of the web page clear and understandable?
  • Do the graphics of the web page get in the way of the text or do they enhance your understanding of the material?

This evaluation sheet was created by Jane Jurgens, Instructor/Librarian, Minneapolis Community & Technical College.