Evaluating Expert Opinion in Web Resources

Questions to ask:
Are there reviews of the web site available?
Can you see a pattern in who links to the site?
What do the people linking to the site say about it?

Resources to use:

• Perform an advanced search in Google. By using the "page-specific search" function, you can see what other website link to the website your are reviewing.  Other search engines offer similar search features.
• See if the pattern of sites linking to your site is of political perspectives, corporate ownership, and/or universities.
• Check the Scout Project, the Librarians' Index to the Internet,  or ICYouSee: A Guide to the World Wide Web for reviews of your site.

So What?
You don't have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to evaluating information.  Use the work others have done before you.  If you can't find a review, it doesn't automatically mean your site is bad or useless.  Reviews are just another clue to the appropriateness of the information.

Return to Evaluating Web Resources
 

Thomas Tredway Library Augustana College 639 38th Street, Rock Island, IL 61201
 309-794-7206 libraryinfo@augustana.edu

Return to the Augustana College Homepage