Authority
Because anyone can put anything on the Internet, it's good to pay attention to who made the web page. If someone isn't willing to claim a page, it's probably not a good source to use. A good webpage is one that lists its author and cites information. If someone can't back what they're saying, then the information becomes suspicious. Even when a site lists an author and gives citations, it's a good idea to examine the information. Are they legit resources?
Some questions to ask:
Can you even tell who the author is?
Do they have credentials?
Do they have authority to speak on the subject?
Does the author cite their sources?
Can you contact the author?
Does the web page have a sponsor?
Examples
| Autism and Vaccines | ||
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| While we can't tell who the author it, this site is affiliated with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and pulls information from various government and professional resources including the National Library of Medicine and the American Academy of Pediatrics. LInks to other sites and a reference list are included. | This site lists a non-medical author and quotes several books, all found on the site (no links to outside resources). This, the fact it is a .com site and the massive amount of ads, probably means this is not a good site to use. | |
| Feline Reactions to Bearded Men | Ban DHMO: Dihydrogen Monoxide | |
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| While this humor site lists authors and cites several sources, citations include things like Seuss, Doctor, "Feline Responses to Hats" (Dr. Seuss, Cat in the Hat). | This humor/hoax sites contains several citations, but they're all fake. The authors' names and URLs are often just slightly wrong -- close enough that someone in a hurry may not notice, i.e., "Barack Obema." |
