All information needs to be evaluated regarding its validity, accuracy, reliability and lack of bias. This is particularly true of information found via the web. Publishing on the web is easy, inexpensive and available to anyone, which makes it easy for someone to misrepresent themselves or to print information that is not suitable for use in academic research. Below you will find information, including questions you should ask yourself, regarding the sources you have found to establish if they are suitable.
CRITERIA | Questions to ask |
AUTHOR (WHO?)
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VALIDITY/ACCURACY/POINT OF VIEW (WHAT?) |
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CURRENCY (WHEN?)
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ORIGIN (WHERE?) |
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AUDIENCE (WHY?) |
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Information contained in this handout has been adapted from the following websites:
http://lib.colostate.edu/howto/evalweb.html
http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective/goodbadugly.html
A useful website on evaluating information:
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html
Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Australia License.
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