ENGL 102: Gietzen, S. (Fall 2024): Find websites

Finding Authoritative, Reliable Websites

It is relatively easy to find information on the web about controversial topics. However, not all of it is trustworthy (reliable). 

Things to Ask Yourself When Evaluating a Website

• Is the author of the website clearly identified (an author can be an organization)? If the author is not clearly identified, it MAY because he or she has something to hide.
• Is there an "About" link clearly describing the author's credentials and purpose for creating the website?
• What is the domain (.com; .org; .gov; .edu)? Generally, .com sites are commercial sites dedicated in some way to making money. Since only governments and schools can have .gov and .edu domains, you know these are the official sites of the sponsoring institution, such as http://www.yale.edu versus http://www.yale.com. The .org domain is trickier. Generally non-profit organizations use .org, such as The American Heart Association, but anyone can use the .org domain, so use care.
• Is the language professional and neutral? Or, is there biased or accusational language? Is the author's or organization's point of view obvious? Is it clear that this is a conservative, progressive, liberal, etc. site?
• Does the author use poor spelling and grammar? Are there a lot of exclamation points? These are rarely present in reliable and authoritative websites.

URL domains can be clues to a site's reliability and ownership. 

Common URL domains:

• .gov = U.S. government (official agencies)
• .edu = educational (colleges & universities)
• .org = organization (could be non-profit or for-profit, can be informative but often biased)

You can also limit your searches, like through a Google search, by using the "site:" search shortcut. 

"Site searching" examples:

• polar bears AND climate change site:.edu (would find educational resources on this topic)
• polar bears and climate change site:.gov (would find U.S. government resources on this topic)
• Note that there are NO spaces before or after the colon after the word "site"

Now you try!