Part II: Perform search

In general, every source of information should be critically scrutinized. Printed publications are subject to a certain amount of quality control by the publishers and by the inclusion or non-inclusion of the titles in a reference database. With Internet publications, however, you are largely on your own when it comes to assessing the quality.

Well-established quality criteria are:
 

• Publication purpose:
  • With what background was the information was published?
  • For which target group?
     
• Author/Source:
  • Can the authors be identified or do they remain anonymous? Who are the authors, from which field do they come?
  • What are the reputation and qualifications of the publisher or by whom was the website published (scientific institution, museum, company etc.)?
     
• Content:
  • Where does the content come from?
  • Can the statements be verified?
  • How accurate is the information and how objective is the presentation?
  • How broad is the spectrum of content, what is left out?
     
• Timeliness, updating:
  • When was the document published? For Internet sites: When were they last revised (in regard to content); is this even to tell?
  • What is the state of the information?
     
• References:
  • What other literature is referred to? For Internet sites: Where do the links lead to, who links to the site and with what intention?
     

Further tips & hints:

• Bochum University Library - critical evaluation of literature
• Bochum University Library - evaluation of websites

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