HST 300/495

Evaluating Web Resources

ANYONE can publish ANYTHING on the Internet and primary source documents are no exception.  Before relying on or citing the information you find on a website, you should consider the following aspects of the site itself:

1.  The URL (Uniform Resource Locator)

Is the site a personal page?  Does it belong to an organization or an educational institution?  What type of domain is it?  In general, sites published by educational or governmental organizations are more reliable than personal websites but government sites may be subject to propaganda.

Look for the name of the author or organization responsible for the page. Can you easily find the following information?:

• Credentials — who is the author or organization and what sort of qualifications do they have?
• Contact address — is an email or some other contact information given?
• "About" link — is there an “about,” “background,” or “philosophy” link that provides author or organizational information?

It is usually a good idea to check other sources for the author's name as well.  Can you locate any corroborating biographical information to support the author's listed credentials or accomplishments?

Is there a clear purpose or reason for this site? Websites can be created for a variety of purposes: to disseminate information, provide access to collections, support teaching, sell products, persuade, etc. Discovering the purpose can help determine the reliability of the site and the information it provides.

Some pages explicitly state their purpose, others do not. To find information about the purpose:

• Check for an “about” link — these links often provide some information about the purpose of the site.
• Find the homepage for the site — sometimes pages include the “about” link or other clues on the purpose of the organization sponsoring the site.
• Look for an agenda — are documents slanted in some way to persuade you? Are misleading or deceptive arguments or words used to sway your opinion?  Is only one side of a controversial issue presented? If the purpose of the website is to persuade, you should examine the material very closely before accepting it as fact.
• Is the page a satire, parody, or spoof?

In a website of primary sources it is important to determine where the author got the documents. The best sites clearly state the source of the original material. Different factors need to be considered based on the format of the document and type of site:

• Scanned image of a document
  The image of scanned documents usually illustrates what the original documents look like. The origin of the documents at a website may be determined by the creator of the website. For example, the Library of Congress website generally supplies documents from its own manuscript collections, but providing in-house documents is not always possible. Sometimes, websites will present texts from other document collections, or may provide links to documents at other websites.
• Transcribed document
  Transcribed documents do not illustrate the original image of the document but only provide the content in plain text format. It is important to discover the original source of transcribed documents to determine if the transcription is complete and accurate. The source, which may be the original documents or published editions, should be cited.
• Links to external documents
  Metasites that link to external documents and web sites that use frames require you to track down the original website for the documents for evaluation purposes. A reliable website may link to a document in another not so reliable site and vice-versa.

Is the content clearly explained, organized, and accessible? Good web design not only makes an electronic resource easier to use, it is also one indication that the content has been provided, and is being maintained, by a trustworthy source. Although standards of what constitutes “good web design” vary widely, clarity, simplicity and easily-understandable navigational cues are some of the obvious signs. Some considerations are:

• Pages that are legible with clear explanations.
• Obvious navigational aids that provide access to documents and obvious links on every webpage to the homepage.
• Individual urls for each document for ease of linking and citation information.
• Clear instructions about special software requirements.

Is there a fee for use? Fee-based sites must be weighed against their value. It is possible that the same content, or similar content, is available through another electronic source free of charge. Public, school, and academic libraries may offer free access to fee based electronic collections of primary resources.

*Content reproduced and adapted from Using Primary Sources on the Web - Reference and User Services Association of the American Library Association.