Evaluating Web Pages
The unfiltered, free-form nature of the Web presents unique challenges to determining the credibility of the sources you find. Anyone can create a website with anything they want. The overall quality and types of bias that you find on a site are often, but not always, related to the domain.
.edu domain:
- Educational site
- Information from an educational institution
- Example: ess.uci.edu
.gov domain:
- Government site
- Information from government agencies
- Example: ecosystems.usgs.gov
.org domain:
- Organization/non-profit site
- Promote advocacy
- Example: plos.org
.com domain:
- Commercial site
- Information on materials for purchase
- Example: chemistry.about.com