Evaluating Resources

When trying to determine the authority of an author, consider these questions: 

• Who is the author/publisher/source?
• Is the author qualified to write on the topic?
• What are the author's credentials? 
• Is there contact information for the author or publisher? 
• Does the URL give any clues about the author or source? .com .edu .gov .org 

Keep in mind what each domain represents:

.com = US commercial website

.edu = US educational website affiliated with a university 

.gov = US government website

.org = Organization or non-profit site 

Keep in mind the intent of the website. Is it trying to teach, persuade, or sell you something? 

To determine the authority of an author, click on the author's name or look for their information at the bottom of the article. There you can find background information on the author as well as other articles the author has written.

Sometimes you may need to look up additional information about the author or website to determine its credibility. It can be tricky sometimes.