Critiquing Web Resources: How to Separate Good Data from Bad

If you recognize the source and are sure that particular source is running the site, you are likely to be on solid ground. Don't forget, though, that some of the people who are running sites are trying to confuse you: http://www.amnesty-tunisia.org/ and www.amnesty.org/tunisia, for instance, carry opposing messages. Don't forget that hackers can sometimes commandeer legitimate sites.

• Check to see if the site is objective or at least takes account of opposing viewpoints.
• Pay close attention to when a site was most recently updated.

The last revision dates of some sites can be determined by using a feature of the Netscape Navigator browser. Click on the View option and go to Page Info to see information on when the site was last revised.

Gauge a site's credibility by seeing who runs it.

To check, go to http://www.internic.net/and use the registry "whois" search of the database registered domain names run by Internic, an organization that is the registry for information. Some people use Web navigation software called Alexa, which includes source and other information. If you can get an idea of who runs the site, you can better judge its information.

Pay attention to a site's address or URL

Check whether they end with .com (commercial), .org (technically for nonprofit organizations), .gov (for government), .net (for network) or .edu (for educational). Some .edu sites describe bona fide research, others are individual home pages of people affiliated with the institution. A long and complicated Web address is another warning sign. Try to find out more about a site by deleting parts of the address from right to left.

Look for a tilde (~) in a Web site's address

A tilde is often the sign of a personal home page. The tilde might occur in a .edu address, suggesting that the page's owner is a professor or student at a college or university. Often a clue that a site is a personal page is an address that includes "geocities", "tripod" or "members.aol.com".

Djanews.com

If you come across unfamiliar topics or Web site authors, run their names through a search engine or Dejanews.com to see what others have said about them. Dejanews is a huge and often fractious collection of personal opinions, some of them highly misleading or incomprehensible and some well informed.

Consider contacting a Web site owner directly

Contact can be made using an email address or phone number from the site, or perhaps using the fruits of your Internic search. Beware of sites that offer no address or do not respond.

Pay attention to hyperlinks

A good page not only has internal links but also points outward to other parts of information.

• Look for sites that refer to print and other off-line resources.
• Look for sites like Cnet.com that include a page of corrections
• Beware of site with lots of spelling and grammatical errors

Lack off attention to such detail could indicate less-than-rigorous content.

Adapted from The New York Times, March 4, 1999