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Library Research Guides

SPEECH 301 - Professor Harder (Spring 2020): Evaluating Sources

Website Evaluation

Why might the websites below be inappropriate for an academic research assignment? 


How would a great source differ from the sources above?  

What characteristics (who, what, where, when, why) would you want to see in a source that you would use for your research assignment?

Google Search Tip: Site Limiters

I. Limit your search to government (.gov) websites or educational (.edu) institutions with site limiters.

a. Type your keywords and add site:.gov for government websites or site:.edu for educational websites.

b.  Let's try it.  Click on the following link: "climate change" site:.edu

c. What do you notice?  HINT: Take a look at the domain (e.g. .edu).

II.  Use this strategy to search for your topic; click on the image below to conduct a Google search.

Access the Google search engine

  Evaluating Internet Sources

Anyone can publish anything on the web, so it's extremely important to evaluate the information you find there. Follow these links for guidelines on how to evaluate a site.