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Library Instruction

Evaluating Sources

Evaluating Sources

Critical areas to consider:

Authority

                Author and his or her credentials and reputation

                Publisher

Objectivity

                Fact

                Opinion

                Propaganda

Quality

                Presentation

                Accuracy

                Completeness

                Intended audience

                Tone of the language

Currency

                More important for some topics than others

Relevance

                Scholarly or popular

                Primary, secondary, or bibliographic

                Intended audience    

Context in which the information was created

Web content must be evaluated at least as rigorously as print material

Domain name extensions: (these are the most common, there are many more)

.com—commercial

.biz—business

.net—network

.org—organization, originally non-profit

.edu—educational, originally 4-year institutions

.gov—governmental

.mil—military

.int—international organizations

There are also two letter extensions for countries: https://www.worldstandards.eu/other/tlds/