Evaluating online information is one of the trickiest and most important parts of using the Internet in your reporting, so I thought I'd follow up Sree's tips on judging accuracy with a checklist to help guide you.
Here are five steps for assessing information quality (IQ) that you should run through before relying on anything found online:
• Authority: Who wrote it, why, and what are their credentials? Who published it and why? With whom are the author and publisher affiliated?
• Objectivity: What opinions or biases, if any, are expressed? Is there a sponsor that might have influenced the content? Is the site a mask for advertising or an agenda? Could it be satire or a hoax?
• Timeliness: When was it produced and last updated? Is it up-to-date?
• Sourcing: What is the source of the information and is it reliable?
• Verification: Find at least one other reputable source, perferably not online, that provides similar information.
If you can't determine even one of these, then you probably shouldn't rely on the information.
Here are several sites that offer similar lists aimed at general researchers, in addition to the useful sites Sree cited. The questions they suggest you ask are handy to all, and they include additional tips on how to answer each question:
• Evaluating Information Found on the Internet, from The Sheridan Libraries at Johns Hopkins University.
• Five criteria for evaluating Web pages, by Jim Kapoun.
• A checklist from The Virtual Chase, a legal research site.
• WebWizard: Evaluating Web Pages (includes a good list of examples).
And here's your first test: evaluate the Web site of McWhortle Enterprises, Inc. Poke around and you'll discover that things on the Web aren't always what they seem.
Know of a useful Web site for journalists? Send it to tips@jondube.com.
Links from Jonathan:
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• Find more tips and news on CyberJournalist.net.
• Use the CyberJournalist newsgathering SuperSearch.
• Subscribe to the CyberJournalist monthly tips newsletter.
