The 5Ws of Internet Research: Evaluating Websites
Name of Website: The Canadian Encyclopedia URL: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/
WHO?
-has someone taken responsibility for the content?
-who are the creators of the website?
-is it a personal web page or put out by an institution? How do you know?
-are the creators reliable and credible?
WHAT?
-does the site's information seem thorough and well organized?
-does the site clearly state the topics that it intends to address?
-does the information seem complete?
-is the information well written and easy to understand?
-does the Web site offer a list of further resources?
-does the site rely on loaded language or broad, unsubstantiated statements?
-is emotion used as a means of persuasion?
-does the site offer more than one viewpoint?
WHEN?
-is it important that the information you are seeking be right up to date?
-is a date provided to show when the material was created or last updated?
-what is copyright status?
-do the links work?
HOW?
-did you research the author or the publisher of the information?
-did the advanced Google techniques (site:link; site:query; site:related) produce
high quality sites as well?
WHERE?
-where is the information from? Is it Canadian?
-check the URL for indicators of reliability (ie .gov; .gc.ca; .edu)
The article was written by Norman Hillmer and Jeff Scott The actual website designers are
not mentioned anywhere, however the actual encyclopedia was put out by Historia Canada,
an independent organization that works towards enhancing awareness of Canadian history.
This statement leads me to believe that the website is credible and reliable.
Nearly every article is well thought out, and excellently organized, providing many images to
refer to. The articles are always straight to the point and are simple to read. The information
on most articles on this website are complete, it depends on the actual topic and material
the article is covering. The information is easy to read, however the fully white background
and slightly gray text hurts the eyes after reading for a while. The website also offers many
other articles that are related to the one you were reading. The article does not try to
persuade and does not use any biased opinions or facts. The article offers the view from
Britain’s standpoint, Canada’s standpoint, and America’s standpoint.
In this article, it does not matter that the information is up to date, since the material it is
covering is almost 100 years old. The article was first written in February of 2006 and was
last updated just a year ago. All the links provided on the website are completely functional.
Norman Hillmer is a Professor of History and International Affairs at Carleton University. He
has written and updated over 100 articles for the Canadian Encyclopedia, and all of them
have something to do with Canadian history and international affairs. Jeff Scott however has
only written 5 articles, which all also have something to do with history. It does not say
anywhere whether he graduated from a post-secondary school program. Using advanced
google techniques, this website was the first to pop up.
The information is Canadian, and is usually always written by Canadian citizens.