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Website Evaluation 
There are several things you should take into consideration before you use information from the Internet for a report.  Unlike a newspaper or magazine, the Internet has NO editors.  Anyone can put anything on the Internet.  Just because you found it on the Internet does not automatically mean it is good, current, or that the author is an authority.  The responsibility for the evaluation of a website falls on you!   
Below is a list of criteria that you can use to evaluate websites.
Step One:  Check the Content of the Website

Does the page have a title to indicate the content of the page?
What is the purpose of the page?  Does it inform, persuade, sell, or explain?
Does the information on the page appear to be fact, opinion, biased, or stereotyped?  
Does the page appear to be accurate?
Do you see spelling or grammar mistakes?
Does the information agree with what you already found to be true?
If there are graphics or sounds, are they useful or do they distract?
If the document is long or has multiple pages, are links provided to easily move through the document?
What is the overall appearance of the page?  Is it sloppy or professionally done?
Step Two:  Analyze the URL (address)

A website address is called a URL, Uniform Resource Locator, and each part of the URL has a special meaning.  The Domain Name, .- - -, describes the sponsoring organization of the page.  Some important ones are:

.com   a commercial site
.edu   educational. a college or university
.k12   a school
.org   a non-profit organization
.gov   government
.net   network

Each state and country also has a domain name:
.ny    New York
.us    United States
.it    Italy
.ca    Canada
.jp    Japan

             
Step Three: Analyze the background of the author or page sponsor

Information about the author or page sponsor is usually found at the bottom of the webpage.  If there is no information, you should not use things found on the page for your report.  

What is the author's name, background, and credentials?
Is the author an expert you recognize or a reporter you trust?
What organization is sponsoring the page?
Is the website from an organization or institution you can rely upon?
Did you link to this website from a site you trust?
Is there an address where you can contact the author or sponsor?
Step Four:  Currency of the website

Information on the Internet gets out of date very quickly.  

Is there a date stating when the page was created?
Is there a date stating when the page was last updated?
If the page contains links, do they all work?
Is the information on the page outdated?
Step Five:  Usefulness of Website

Will this information help my project?
Does this site contain information that cannot be found elsewhere?
Is this information as good as or better than the other sources I already have?
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