Research Quality of Websites
These site types and examples are ones that you will usually find your search engine results. Even though all site types below generally fall into these levels of quality, you should always evaluate all websites on their own merit.
Site Category |
Examples |
Sites in this section generally have a level of credibility and accuracy. These types of sites should be your main source of websites for your works cited list.
|
Academic Subject Directories (Tool)
Collection of sites selected / evaluated by experts / teachers / librarians Educational / Cultural Institutions Museums, zoos and other non-profit educational / cultural organizations Experts Sites created and maintained by subject experts (e.g. college professors, journalists, authors) Government Sites created by and maintained by local, state and national governments News Traditional news organizations or independent web based journalism sites Reference Websites that provide quick reference information facts and short articles that support homework assignments and research projects. Sometimes associated with companies that provide book, television or other media content, they are usually ad-supported, but the content is usually high quality. Research / Think Tank / Non Governmental Organization Organizations that study one or more topics in-depth or are trying to solve social / scientific problems. Staffed by experts / scholars in the subject area. Caution: These organizations sometimes have a political agenda. Selective & Specialty Search Engines (Tool) Selective search engines that have generally only included higher quality sites in their index of sites. Specialty search engines only search certain topics or types of sites. Caution: Both include some sties from the categories below. |
Academic Subject Directories
Infomine, Child & Family WebGuide, Best of History Sites Educational / Cultural Institutions Animal Diversity Web (U of M Museum of Zoology), Encyclopedia of Chicago (Chicago History Museum), Poetry Foundation Experts Famous Trials, Alcohol Problems & Solutions, The Sports Economist, Ypulse Government World Factbook (CIA), Statistical Abstract of the United States (U.S. Census), Diseases & Conditions (CDC), What's Next Illinois? (State of Illinois), Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) News NPR, Fox News, Pro Publica, Slate, Scientific American, New York Times Reference AllMusic, Eric Weisstein's World of Science, Family Doctor, Merriam-Webster, Infoplease, ProCon.org, Shmoop Research / Think Tank / Non Governmental Organization Pew Research Center, Public Agenda, United Nations, Council on Foreign Relations, Immigration Policy Center, Heritage Foundation, American Heart Association Selective Search Engines Sweet Search, Refseek, USA.gov, Google News, Full Text Reports, Google Scholar, Microsoft Academic Search, WorldCat.org |
Sites in this category have varying levels of credibility, accuracy and reliability, but they can still be useful additions to your works cited list.
|
Advocacy
Organization that supports one side of a social or political issue. Expert Guides Staffed by volunteer or experts who are paid a small fee per article. They write about a specific topic and curate related web resources. They are often freelance writers or work in a related field. Non-expert with Sources Created by any well informed non-expert who has done extensive research and who provides source citations or references / links to their information. |
Advocacy
ACLU, PETA, FreedomWorks, MoveOn Expert Guides About.com, AllExperts, eHow, How Stuff Works, Livestrong Non-expert with Sources Global Issues, Macrohistory, Shakespeare High, Religious Tolerance |
Sites in this category have low credibility, possible issues with accuracy and reliability and other issues. They could be used at the beginning of your research to understand your topic, but you should not cite them in your works cited list.
|
Crowd Sourced Information
Informational websites that use volunteers to create their content. Volunteers are usually anonymous, not topic experts and quality of their information can vary widely. No Author or Publisher Information and No Sources A website created by an unknown author or organization that might be a personal hobby. No author / publisher / source information is provided. Product Sites A company that provides information about a topic related to a product they sell (e.g. medical information provided by a pharmaceutical company). Student Projects Class websites / presentations created by K-12 or college students for a class assignment. |
Crowd Sourced Information
Answers.com, IMDB, Wikipedia No Author or Publisher Information. and No Sources ViethamWar.net, Antenna Theory Product Sites Beef Nutrition, Lillly for Better Health, Mastercard Student Projects Blue Planet Biomes, The Politics of Barbarism |
