Module 3: Finding and Evaluating Information on the World Wide Web

Tips for Evaluating Web Documents

Evaluating a web document is definitely not easy. It requires careful observation of what you can see and find out from the document followed by careful thought about some specific criteria.

The criteria discussed here are generally agreed to be important in evaluating web documents that you might consider using for most academic purposes. For other purposes (for instance, for your own entertainment), you will need to consider what criteria you will use.

For each criterion, we have offered an explanation and a set of questions that you can use to gather evidence and then make a judgment. We have also included discussion of some common types of documents found on the web that you should evaluate carefully.

Criteria to Consider

Credibility

Credibility refers to the level at which a document is believable, or able to be trusted. Documents can be judged more or less credible based upon who wrote them and what they contain. Documents that offer no specific evidence, explanation, documentation, or reasons may be judged less credible than those that do offer these elements. Also, documents written by people or groups with specific education and/or experience (including personal experience) about a topic may be judged more credible than those written by people or groups with less education or experience in this field.

So, for instance, a document about heart diseases written by a medical doctor would be considered more credible than one written by a first-year university student. However, two documents about the health effects of the first year at university--one by a first-year student and the other by a medical doctor--could be judged as equally credible, depending on the amount and quality of the evidence, explanation, and documentation each one included.

To help you evaluate the crediblity of a web document, answer these questions:

• Who is the author?
• What is the author's connection to the topic?
• How likely is the author to have access to necessary information on this topic?
• How has the author obtained this information?
• How detailed is the document?
• What types of details are provided?
• Where do these details come from?
• How and where has the author gotten these details?

Objectivity

Objectivity refers to the level of fairness and balance presented by a document. Documents can be judged more or less objective based upon how they present different points of view or bodies of information about a topic.

However, documents that intend to present one specific point of view or one set of information and clearly do that are not "bad" documents! They are less objective than documents that intend to present multiple points of view and sets of information and accomplish that purpose.

So, to accurately evaluate the objectivity of a document, users must identify the document's purpose: what it intends to do, pretends to do, or says it is doing. The following questions can help in judging the objectivity of a web document:

• What does the document say it is about? Is that also what I think it is about?
• What does the document say it is doing? Is that also what I think it is doing?
• How frequently does the document make me ask, "Yes, but what about ____?"
• How frequently does the document suggest that I might find other documents with different views or other information?
• How frequently does the document seem incomplete?

Currency

Currency refers to when a document is made public. But the currency of a document depends a great deal on its topic and content. For instance, a news magazine report on the first successful human heart transplant is very current during the month it is published and becomes less current from then on. In terms of how the medical profession reacted to this event, the document remains highly current forever because it was written at that moment in time. However, in terms of its discussion of how human heart transplants are done, this document is no longer current today, because many changes have taken place in transplants since then. (In addition, this document might not be very credible on this aspect of the topic, either, because it is now out of date.)

The following questions can help you evaluate the currency of a document:

• When was this document originally made public?
• Has this document been updated, revised, or added to? When?
• Are there other documents available--either on the web or elsewhere--that were made public more recently?
• Is this document--or the part in which I am interested--about a topic that is likely to have changed significantly since it was made public?

Relevance

Relevance refers to how closely related a document is to a particular topic. Too frequently, users of search engines assume that, just because a search term--a word, a set of words, or a phrase--appears somewhere within a document, the document is relevant. This is not true. Both the way the document is related and the quantity of related material it contains are important for determining relevance.

For instance, imagine that you are working on a project and you search for the exact phrase "heart diseases in humans." Among the documents you find is one that discusses heart diseases in pets in which the author comments that, "Despite the amount spent every year on research into the causes and treatments of heart diseases in humans, relatively little is done to decrease the suffering of pets from similar problems." Clearly, this document mentions the topic you are interested in; and, it even uses the exact phrase you are looking for. But it is less relevant than a document that describes, for instance, the most recent developments in diagnosing heart diseases.

On the other hand, a document that traces the history of the study of heart diseases in humans may contain much information on this topic. But, if your project focuses on the current developments, then this document about the history is less relevant than the other one just mentioned. This is because the amount of information in the second document that is related to your specific focus is less than the amount of information in the first document.

The following questions can help you evaluate the relevance of a document:

• What is this document mainly about?
• What subtopics does it address?
• How closely related are these main topics and subtopics to what I am seeking?
• How much of this document is related to what I am seeking?
• How will this document help me in my work?

Common types of documents found on the web

The following types of documents are commonly found on the web and they can be difficult to evaluate if you're not sure what you are looking at.

News article

Many news sources now make some or all of their articles available on the web. These sources include international news gathering agencies that are known and trusted for their reporting, as well as those that are well known for their biases. Just because it is "news" doesn't mean it is objective! Also, consider the exact date of publication: "news" becomes "olds" very quickly.

News release or Press release

A news or press release is not made public by the press or by a news organization! Instead, it is a document "released" or sent to the press by someone who would like to influence what the press will report on. Usually, a press release is intended to give a particular view on a topic or event (for instance, a company announcing its plan to open a new office) that it would like to see covered in a news article. In general, credible news reports on a topic or event will present more than one point of view--and may actively seek out opposing views (such as the loss of jobs in the company's other offices).

Blog

Blogs, or weB logs, are quickly becoming popular for people who want to "have their say." These public journals--where the writer puts thoughts, ideas, observations, opinions, and so forth on a regular basis--generally provide a place for a person or group to say whatever they want. Blogs do not pretend to be objective; some blogs are even posted anonymously, so it's impossible to judge their credibility.

Personal pages or Personal web sites

A personal page or home page represents an individual's point of connection to the world through the web. Personal pages may be truthful, up to date, and accurate portrayals of real people, or completely fake. The same is true of any information they include.

Personal web sites--including personalized domain names--may be created to provide accurate and valuable information about real experts and their work. Or, they may be complete fiction.

Usenet postings and Listserve archives

Usenet (and other networks) are vast collections of bulletin board-type discussions devoted to an incredible array of topics. Users post messages and responses in these spaces on the web. Listserve lists accomplish similar purposes using email instead of the web, but some of these discussions make their archives (histories of their discussions) available on the web. These ongoing "conversations" are sometimes accessible to anyone on the web (some groups' discussions can only be seen by members). Some of these may even be searched by search engines.

Although some postings in these types of discussoins are made by well-established and knowledgeable experts, some are not. It is not always easy to tell the difference.