Searching |Evaluation | Ethical Use
Evaluating Resources on the Web
Tip #7: Is the information ACCURATE?
Assess the accuracy of the information in the document.
Questions to ask:
- Is the content of the site a true reflection of what it says it is?
- Are the facts correct?
- Is there a way to judge accuracy, such as independent access to information upon which the site is based?
- Are there typographical or grammatical errors?
Why ?
The accuracy of factual information can tell you something about the care the author took in preparing the document and can provide clues to (lack of) expertise or potential bias in the ideas represented in the document.
How?
Cross check factual data with other documents on the web by searching for other pages containing information about the facts. Even checking spelling and grammar can sometimes provide a clue about the care taken in creating a document. An easy way to fact check is to use the terms you want to check as keywords in a query.
Example:
The Information Fluency Search Wizard includes "How-to" guides to searching the Internet. According to other web sites and paper documentation covering the same topics, the content presented is accurate. We watch for typographical and grammatical errors and fix them when found.