Library Catalog

Online Databases

Library Home

Native American Research Tutorial

Searching the Internet: Evaluating Resources

Once you have found material on the Internet, you need to evaluate it for accuracy and timeliness. This is especially true for Native American research. Many sites are created by individuals, including non-Natives. Some of these sites are based on solid research and knowledge of tribal peoples, while others are not. Even information provided by scholars and tribes themselves might not be current.

Here are some steps in evaluating Internet Resources.

1. Determine who is the author and/or sponsor of the site.

http://library.doi.gov/internet/native.html

"http" is the transfer protocol (type of information being transferred)
"library" is the host computer or server name
"doi." (Department of Interior) is the second-level domain name
"gov" is the top-level domain name
"internet" is the directory name
"native" is file name
"html" is the file type (or the language that the computer reads)

From this information you can determine that the page is authored/sponsored by the Department of the Interior of the US government.

In generally, look for top-level domain names that end in .edu, .nsn.us, and .gov. These tend to be more reliable than .com sites. Many .org and .net sites are good resources (many museums or cultural groups have .org addresses, for example), but they are less consistent.  Also look for hosts or second-level domain names that include "library." These pages tend to be created by librarians who are trained in evaluating and presenting accurate information.

2. Evaluate the Information Provided About the Site

• When the site was last updated. Recent updates usually mean a commitment to providing accurate and timely information.
• A link to email the author/creator with questions or comments.
• The name, address, phone and other contact information for the Web page provider.

3. Evaluate the Content

Questions to Ask:

1. Who is the sponsor of the page? Are they likely to have any particular biases or prejudices. For example, if you are looking for information about native religion, a site sponsored by a New Age bookstore might not be the most reliable.
2. Evaluate the links from the page. Do they link to reliable resources, such as .gov or .edu sites?
3. Evaluate the links to the page. Did you find it listed on a .gov or .edu site? Try searching for material in Google. They examine which pages are linked to highly reliable pages.
4. When was the page last updated? Is the information current?
5. Is the site trying to sell you something? Be wary of sites with ads, although keep in mind that some good sites do have ads in order to support themselves.
6. Can you verify the information at other sites or in other resources?

   ---

Previous Page