Not sure whether you should use that website as a source for your assignment? EVALUAte it!

Here are some questions to ask yourself when deciding whether or not to use a website as a source. Hover your mouse over a question to view more information on what to look for:

	EXPERTISE OF THE AUTHOR	Does the page identify the author? What are the author's qualifications?
	VALUE OF THE INFORMATION	Is the source relevant to your topic? Is the source in-depth enough for your needs?
	ACCURACY OF THE INFORMATION	Can you confirm the information in other sources? Does the author include a reference list or bibliography?
	LEANING/POINT OF VIEW	Is the page free of advertisements? Is the page free of unreasonable bias? Is there an agenda or motivation behind the information presented?
	UP-TO-DATE	Does the page display a date it was created or last modified? Is the information up-to-date?
	ARRANGEMENT OF THE INFORMATION	Is the information organized?

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Not sure whether you should use that website as a source for your assignment? EVALUAte it! 

 Here are some questions to ask yourself when deciding whether or not to use a website as a source. Hover your mouse over a question to view more information on what to look for:

EXPERTISE OF AUTHOR:

1. Does the page identify the author?
2. What are the author's qualifications?

VALUE OF INFORMATION:

3. Is the source relevant to your topic?
4. Is the source in-depth enough for your needs?

ACCURACY OF INFORMATION:

5. Can you confirm the information in other sources?
6. Does the author include a reference list or bibliography?

LEANING/POINT OF VIEW:

7. Is the page free of advertisements?
8. Is the page free of unreasonable bias?
9. Is there an agenda or motivation behind the information presented?

UP-TO-DATE:

10. Does the page display a date it was created or last modified?
11. Is the information up-to-date?

ARRANGEMENT OF INFORMATION:

12. Is the information organized?

NOTE: For information on how to cite a Web page according to APA, see our Citation Help page. *You will need to log in with your Baker username and password.

Not sure whether you should use that website as a source for your assignment? EVALUAte it!

Here are some questions to ask yourself when deciding whether or not to use a website as a source:

EXPERTISE:

• Does the page identify the author?      On most websites, author information is found on the top or bottom of the page.  The author may be a person, group of people, or an organization.   If you cannot find contact information anywhere on the site, the author may be avoiding contact. In this case you should not cite this source.
• What are the author's qualifications?      If the author of the Web page has provided an “About” page, this can be an excellent source of information about him or her.  If the author is associated with an organization, such as a college or business, you can check that organization's website for information on the author.
  

VALUE OF INFORMATION:

• Is the source relevant to your topic?      In order to fulfill a requirement that you use a certain number of sources, you may be tempted to use a source which is not central to your topic.  You should fight against this temptation; "padding" your reference list in this way can be detrimental to your grade if you are found to be doing this.
• Is the source in-depth enough for your needs?      It is important to consider  the audience it is written for.  An online encyclopedia may be useful for a  100-level class, but in the upper division classes, such a source would no longer be appropriate.   Use your best judgement to determine if the depth of the source is appropriate to your needs.

ACCURACY OF INFORMATION:

• Can you confirm the information in other sources?      One of the best ways to check if information is correct is if you can find that same information in other, completely separate sources.
• Does the author include a reference list or bibliography?     Good scholarship can be identified by "Works Cited" or "Bibliography" sections. 

LEANING OF AUTHOR:

• Is the page free of advertisements?      Ads on a page usually mean that the author of that page is interested in something other than simply presenting information.  You should always be cautious in using information from such pages.
• Is the page free of unreasonable bias?     A good source will not let bias affect the information contained within it.   If you can detect a strong leaning, whether political, religious, or otherwise, you should avoid that source.
• Is there an agenda or motivation behind the information presented?      The best information allows you as the reader to come to your own conclusions; if you see that the author of a page is trying to convince you of something, and especially if you can spot gaps or misinformation in what is presented, you should avoid using that source.

UP-TO-DATE:

• Does the page display a date it was created or last modified?     Date information can usually be found at the top or bottom of the page.  Look for a copyright date, a "date created", or a "date last modified".  If the date is not indicated, you may right-click your mouse over the page and view the Properties or Page Info for dates "created" and "modified," and use this date for reference.

ARRANGEMENT OF INFORMATION:

• Is the information organized?     Usually, an organized site indicates a good source.  This is not a hard-and-fast rule, however; some professional-looking sites may have bad information, and while this is more unlikely, you may still be able to find good information in a poorly-designed site.

NOTE: For information on how to cite a Web page according to APA, see our Citation Help page. *You will need to log in with your Baker username and password.