| Accuracy |
Question to Ask |
Be Aware That... |
| |
 | Are the sources for any factual information clearly listed so they
can be verified in another source? |
| Is the information free of grammatical, spelling, and other
typographical errors? |
| Is it clear who has the ultimate responsibility or the accuracy of
the content of the material? |
|
| Almost anyone can publish on the web. |
| Most web information is not verified by editors and/or fact
checkers. |
| Errors not only indicate a lack of equality control, but also can
actually produce inaccuracies in information |
| Web standards to ensure accuracy are not fully developed. |
|
| Authority |
Questions to Ask |
Be Aware That... |
| |
| What is the nature and purpose of the page? |
| Is it clear who is sponsoring the page? |
| Is there a link to a page describing the purpose of the sponsoring
organization? |
| Is there a way of verifying the legitimacy of the page's sponsor?
That is, is there a phone number or postal address to contact for more
information? An email address may be not enough. |
| Is it clear who wrote the material and are the author's
qualifications fro writing on this topic clearly stated? |
| If the material is protected by copyright, is the name of the
copyright holder given? |
|
| Often difficult to determine authorship of Web sources. |
| If author's name is listed, his/her qualifications frequently
absent. |
| Publisher responsibility not often indicated. |
|
| Objectivity |
Questions to Ask |
Be Aware That... |
| |
| Is the information provided as a public service? |
| What biases might the author(s) have? |
| Is the information free of advertising? |
| If there is any advertising on the page, is it clearly
differentiated from the informational content? |
|
| Goals/aims of persons or groups presenting material often not
clearly stated. |
| Web often functions as a "virtual soapbox". |
|
| Currency |
Questions to Ask |
Be Aware That... |
| |
| Are there dates on the page to indicate when the page was written,
first placed on the web, and last revised? |
| Are there any other indications that the material is kept current? |
| If material is presented in graphs and/or charts, is it clearly
stated when the data was gathered? |
| If the information is published in different editions, is it clearly
labeled what edition the page is from? |
|
| Dates not always included on Web pages. |
| If included, a date may have various meanings:
 | Date information first written |
| Date information placed on Web |
| Date information last revised |
|
|
| Coverage |
Questions to Ask |
Be Aware That... |
| |
| Is there an indication that the page has been completed and is not
under construction? |
| If there is a print equivalent to the Web page, is there a clear
indication of whether the entire work is available on the Web or only
parts of it? |
| If the material is from a work is out of copyright (as is often the
case with a dictionary of thesaurus) has there been an effort to
update the material to make it current? |
|
| Web coverage may differ from print coverage. |
| Often hard to determine extent of Web coverage. |
|
