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Economic Development-Library Resources : Recommended Websites

Resources for EC301- Economic Development Course

Evaluating Websites

Tutorial by Colorado State University

Useful World Bank Links for Research

Other Resources on the Web

Criteria to Evaluate Websites

Use these 5 criteria to evaluate Websites: Accuracy, Authority, Objectivity, Currency, Coverage

Accuracy

  • Who is the author? What is their contact information? Is the author qualified to write the document?
  • What is the purpose of the document?
  • Are the facts and statistics accurate? Can they be verified elsewhere?

Authority

  • What are the author's credentials?
  • Was the document produced by an individual or an institution?
  • What is the domain of the Website: Is it a .gov or .edu?
  • Does the Website list their sources?

Objectivity

  • Is the document the opinion of the author or is it based on facts?
  • What are the goals & objectives of the Website? Are they trying to sell you something?

Currency

  • When was the Website produced?
  • When was the Website/Web page last updated?
  • Are there many broken/bad links?

Coverage

  • Is the information cited accurately? 
  • Have the links on the page been evaluated? Do the links complement the themes presented in the document?
  • Is there a balance between text and images?

Source: Cornell University Library, Five Criteria for Evaluating Web pages.