Criteria for Evaluating Resources - A3BCD

A³BCD offers six categories of criteria you can use when evaluating resources.

• Is a personal or organizational author identified?
• Does the author provide contact information, e.g., e-mail address, telephone number, street address?
• Does the personal author provide any credentials...
  • organizational affiliation?
  • education?
  • occupation?
  • years of experience?
• Do the credentials suggest an inherent bias of particular point of view?
• Is the author the creator of the document or a compiler of information resources?
• Can you find other material by or about the author, either on the Internet or using library resources, e.g., reference materials or indexing publications?

Adapted from:

Smith, Alastair G. "Testing the Surf: Criteria for Evaluating Internet Information Resources." The Public-Access Computer Systems Review 8, no. 3 (1997).