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Education Assistant Program (EDAS)

Evaluating your Sources

Evaluating web pages requires you to critically consider the following aspects of your site:

  • Author
  • Type of Information
  • Purpose
  • Sources
  • Currency
  • Style

Can one clearly and quickly identify the author/creator of the page? Is it an organization, institution, association or individual? Is there a contact address? What are the author's credentials? What do you know about the organization?

Is the information scholarly, popular, governmental or from a private person or business? Is it intended to be entertaining, educational, business related or personal opinions? Who is the intended audience?

Is the author making an argument for personal gain, offering an opinion, giving a factual report or presenting a scholarly research? Is the writing objecive or biased? 

Can you determine where the information is coming from? Are references provided?

When was the material published and/or updated? Is the information still valid or is it outdated?

Is the writing style clear and understandable? Are there grammatical errors? Does the author legitimately use complex language because of the subject matter? Are helpful graphs, charts, tables or pictures provided?