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UCQ

Evaluate Information

How to evaluate the sources you find.

Evaluating Web Resources

Before using a website or webpage look at the URL (web address) to determine the producer of the website and their purpose.

When you encounter a website with the content of your interest, consider answering the following questions.

  1. Authority: Who is the author of the page?
  2. Purpose: What is the purpose of this page ? like marketing, information sharing etc. 
  3. Audience: Who is the intended audience? Are they targeting any particular people like people currently living in a country or scholars?
  4. Date of publication: When was it written? Is it recently updated?
  5. Documentation: Did they cite or provide sources of information?

Look at the last part of the web address or URL to evaluate who produced the website. This will help you understand the significance of the page and its content.

  • .gov = Government agency
  • .net = Internet Service Provider
  • .com = Commercial site
  • .edu = Higher education
  • .mil= Military site
  • .~ = ("tilde") Personal
  • .org = Organization
  • .qa = Website registered in Qatar