Lydia M. Olson Library (Northern Michigan University) is not so great
Back to all Examples| Name | Lydia M. Olson Library (Northern Michigan University) |
|---|---|
| URL | https://lib.nmu.edu/help/resource-guides/subject-guide/evaluating-internet-sources#tab-337-2 |
| Format | Research Guide |
| Short Description | "In addition, the first part of the address of a site, called the domain, contains information that allows you to get a general idea of the sponsor. ... and .org means an organization" |
| Description | This guide gets it almost right. They frame their discussion of domain names by noting that this is often a way to determine the sponsor of a website, which can help evaluate who was responsible fro the content. While they don't directly state that a .org website automatically means that something is credible, they are still somewhat inaccurate in that a .org website does not always mean that a website is controlled by an organization. "Note, the sponsor of a site is often responsible for the content. You can quickly determine a site's sponsor by looking for references at the top and/or bottom of the page. In addition, the first part of the address of a site, called the domain, contains information that allows you to get a general idea of the sponsor. For example, having the domain name .edu (e.g. http://www.nmu.edu) means the site is hosted by an educational institution, .com means a commercial enterprise, .gov means a government agency, and .org means an organization, such as the National Rifle Association. It is important to note that some sponsors are not directly responsible for the content on their site, such as personal pages hosted by universities or commercial Internet Service Providers (e.g. AT&T, UP.net, etc.). You can identify these pages because they are often represented by a tilde (~) in their address (e.g. http:www.nmu.edu/~kmcdonou/home.html). " |
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