Public Health

How can you tell whether information you find on the web is accurate? The following criteria can help you with evaluating web resources.

Accuracy: The domain (i.e. .com) can tell you a lot about a website. Sites can be .com (commercial), .edu (academic institutions), .gov (governmental), .mil (military), or .org (organization - usually non-commercial). Of these, .edu and .gov sites are the most trustworthy.

Objectivity: Is the site subjective (opinion-based) or objective (fact-based)?

Purpose:

• Are the authors trying to sell you something? Convince you of something? Convey factual information?
• Look for sections like "About Us" or "Mission Statement" to get a better idea of what the site is trying to do.
• Some websites that appear to be informational and scholarly are actually sneakily trying to sell you something or have a hidden agenda, so you need to play detective and dig for clues about a site's true purpose.

Timeliness: Hunt around for a "last updated" statement. If it's been more than a year or two since the last update, it can be a clue that the site is not maintained very well.

Authority: Can you find out who the author of the content is? If so, is s/he an expert on the subject? Does the author leave contact information?

MORE on Evaluating Web Pages from UC Berkeley

National Library of Medicine's Selection Guidelines for Non-National Library of Medicine Resources

Blog from the CDC: 

"Sharing our stories on preparing for and responding to public health events"