How Can You Tell If You Have Received "Good" Information? Part II

The world of publishing has changed greatly, to say the least.  Back in the day only the very affluent could publish his own work.  Everyone else would have had to go through a rigorous editorial process to determine if the work was worthy of publishing.  Once the work was accepted, editors would meticulously check and double-check facts, trying to eliminate misinformation, and in many cases, bias.  With the advent of the Internet and specifically Web 2.0, everyone (even me!) can be a published author.  Unfortunately, the editorial process is not there to censor and correct unintentional and malicious misinformation.  It falls to the user to be able determine what is worthy of their time.

The easiest thing a user can do to judge the content of a webpage in to have enough knowledge about the subject that you can spot the obviously false content.  This can be accomplished by using a reputable, traditionally published source as a first choice for background information.  Such sources include paid encyclopedia subscriptions such as World Book Online and Grolier Online, as mentioned previously in this blog.  When this isn't possible, web evaluations get a little tricky.

One of the first things web users might try is doing a Google search on the person or organization responsible for the website. Are they easily found using search engines?  Does what you find via the search indicate that this person or organization is qualified to write about their chosen topic?  If not, is there some indication on the page that indicates why the person writing the article is qualified?

Aside from the qualifications of the author, one should look for bias in the article.  Is the article providing balanced treatment, pros and cons, of the topic or is it only presenting one side of the issue? (Can we say this applies to political campaign ads as well?)  How important this consideration is depends on your needs.  Let's say you are looking for information about global warming.  If you already have lots of information supporting the idea that global warming is real, you may only be looking for a book that presents evidence that global warming is not real.  Again, check the credentials of the author or organization.

The date when a website was written can also affect the usefulness of information.  This is especially important in fields  where information is continually updated.  For example, solar system information is especially vulnerable to being obsolete.  Just for fun do a search on Pluto.  Is it still a planet (major planet? minor planet?) on the sites you have found?  Do a similar search on Jupiter's moon.  How many different answers to the number of moons can you find?

If you desire more detailed information about website evaluation, many sources are available to you.  One of my favorites is Alan November's resource page and a similar page on Sweet Search.  Both sites will give you useful information.

Good searching!