Evaluating and Citing Internet Sources

Who is the owner of a web site?

• "EasyWhoIs"  http://www.easywhois.com/ 

• "Whois Search"  http://www.networksolutions.com/whois

Who links to a web site?

In Google's search box, type in "link:" and the web site of interest. 

Five basic criteria that you can use to evaluate Internet sites:

Reading Web Addresses

Look at web addresses and make judgments about the web sites you are viewing.

1. Look at the domain name (i.e., www.harvard.edu).  Do you recognize it?

2. Look at the domain name extension (i.e., .com, .edu, .gov).  Some extensions can be owned by anyone such as .com, .org, and .net.  Two letter country codes such as .uk for the United Kingdom can also be found in extensions. 

3. Is the page a personal page?  A web address cannot always answer this question.  However, as noted by Alan November, "The presence of a name in the URL such as jdoe and a tilde ~ or % or the word users or people or members frequently means you are on a personal web site."

MLA Helpful Links

• In-Text Parenthetical Citations, Samples

• Works Cited, Samples

• Using Word 2007 to Cite (Videos from Atomic Learning; requires login off campus)

  • Selecting the Citation Style

  • Inserting a Citation

  • Creating a Bibliography

• EasyBib--A good tool for citing sources outside of Word 2007

Bibliography

Beck, Susan. "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: or, Why It’s a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Sources."  5 Nov 2008  <http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/eval.html>.

November, Alan. "How to Read a Web Address." November Learning. November Learning. 5 Nov 2008 <http://novemberlearning.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=96&Itemid=93>.

Sharkey, Jennifer. "Evaluating Internet Sources & Sites: a tutorial." Purdue University Libaries. Purdue University. 6 Nov. 2008 <http://www.lib.purdue.edu/ugrl/staff/sharkey/interneteval/accuracy1.html>.