Evaluating

Websites: C.A.R.S. Criteria Credibility, Accuracy, Reasonableness, Sources

Name: _________________________________ Date: _________________ I am evaluating website #____________, and the title of it is: ________________________________________________________________.
Credibility ORIGIN (where it comes from): Who created this website? Is he or she an expert in this field? What credentials (college degrees, research, published articles, career accomplishments) does he or she provide? TRUSTWORTHY QUESTIONABLE UNTRUSTWORTHY Notes on the ORIGIN: PURPOSE: What do you think the webmasters purpose was in creating this website? Is it for informing, entertaining, or persuading you? Does the purpose of the website make is less reliable as a good source for information on this topic? TRUSTWORTHY QUESTIONABLE UNTRUSTWORTHY Notes on the PURPOSE:
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Trustworthy This website is trustworthy and would be a great source of information for an academic paper.

Questionable This website may or may not be trustworthy. I do not have enough information to be sure.

Untrustworthy This website is not trustworthy and it would be a terrible mistake to use this information for academic research.

DOMAIN: What is the two or three letter domain for this website? Trustworthy websites are usually .gov or .edu. Websites with .org domains are sometimes opinionated but can be trustworthy too. Websites with .com, .net, and .info endings are often personally created or commercial, meaning they sell something (often untrustworthy). TRUSTWORTHY QUESTIONABLE UNTRUSTWORTHY Notes on the DOMAIN: Accuracy CURRENCY: Is the website up-to-date? Look at the bottom of the page; normally there is a copyright, last updated, or publishing date there. Also, are the links on the webpage expired and do they still work? Does the website look old and outdated? TRUSTWORTHY QUESTIONABLE UNTRUSTWORTHY Notes on the CURRENCY: OBJECTIVITY: Does this website have only facts, or does it have opinions, making it biased? Opinionated websites usually dont have very fair information. TRUSTWORTHY QUESTIONABLE UNTRUSTWORTHY Notes on the OBJECTIVITY: ERRORS: What factual or grammatical errors did you find? Are there typos? If a website has a lot of incorrect information or typing errors, it is probably untrustworthy. TRUSTWORTHY QUESTIONABLE UNTRUSTWORTHY Notes on the ERRORS:
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 Reasonableness COVERAGE: Does the website give you too little or too much information on your topic? Or is it just right? TRUSTWORTHY QUESTIONABLE UNTRUSTWORTHY Notes on COVERAGE: COMMON SENSE: What does your gut feeling tell you about this site? TRUSTWORTHY QUESTIONABLE UNTRUSTWORTHY Notes on COMMON SENSE: Sources SOURCES: When the website author gives information, do they cite their sources? Where did they get their information? Look for a bibliography or links to other websites for more information. If these things are missing, the information is likely untrustworthy. TRUSTWORTHY QUESTIONABLE UNTRUSTWORTHY Notes on SOURCES: *Dont forget! Your conclusion goes on the back of this paper!


CONCLUSION I believe that, overall, this website is: TRUSTWORTHY QUESTIONABLE

UNTRUSTWORTHY

In complete sentences, give at least three reasons how and why you arrived at the conclusion you did.

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