Let's imagine you were asked to find information on the political history of Mexico. After having done a Google search, you came to this web site:

World History Archives

Now let's determine its quality:

	Who is the author of World History Archives? Can you contact him?		The web author, Haines Brown, provides an email link.		He could be contacted for more information.
	What are the author's credentials?		The author was trained in historical research, but doesn't "claim any historiographic expertise." He offers no resume or credentials.		Cannot Determine.
	When was the information published?		Links offer "translations" and e-mails, but no primary sources or original documents.		Cannot Determine.
	Where was the information published?		Author says the documents are "what I find broadcast by public lists, newsgroups, and websites", and doesn't "guarantee the quality or authenticity of the documents."		Questionable.
	Why was the information published? Who is the Audience?		Web site perspective is "universal" and "working class."		Difficult to assess. Possible bias?

As you can see from the example above, there are a lot of reasons to question the reliability of the site's information.

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This page was last updated on August 31, 2004.

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