Evaluating Information

Some questions to help you judge Online Information

1. Your Knowledge
   • How does this new information compare to what you already know?
   • How does it change what you know?
2. Authority
   • Who is providing the information?
   • Where did their information come from?
   • Do they provide evidence or examples to support their points?
   • Why do you think they are providing this information?
3. Time
   • How old is the information?
   • Does it include recent information?
4. Scope
   • How much information is given?
   • How broad is the topic area?
   • How indepth is the information?
5. Form
   • In what package is the information being presented?
   • Is it a WWW or gopher document, a text file, a newsgroup posting, or an email message?
   • Is it in text, image, and/or sound form?
6. Clarity
   • Is the information clearly presented?
   • Is it well organized?
   • Is the site user friendly?
7. Recommendations
   • Have people who you respect (friends, teachers, librarians, or parents, etc.) recommended this site as a good source of information?
8. Validity
   • How true do you think the information is?
   • What makes you think so?
9. Importance
   • Is this important information?
   • If it is, why is it important?

This page was last updated Tuesday May 9, 1995
Send comments to evik@gslis.utexas.edu.