The 5Ws of Internet Research: Evaluating Websites

Name of Website: Diabetes UK URL: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/

WHO? An author is not written anywhere, so it is safe to assume that Diabetes UK is behind the
-has someone taken responsibility for the content? article and are also the creators of the website. This webpage was most likely put out by a
government body because the country United Kingdom is in the website title. The creators
-who are the creators of the website? are most definitely reliable and credible.
-is it a personal web page or put out by an institution? How do you know?
-are the creators reliable and credible?

WHAT?
Yes, the information on the website is thorough. It writes about the discovery of insulin in
chronological order. The article gets straight to the point and there is no extra ‘fluff’. The
information is complete and does not require any additional edits or updates. The article is
-does the site's information seem thorough and well organized? also easy to read and offers many other resources to learn more about diabetes and insulin.
-does the site clearly state the topics that it intends to address? The website is completely unbiased and does not try to persuade. Yes, the article offers a
from a patient’s standpoint and from Frederick G Bantings standpoint.
-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? It does not matter that the article released many decades after the discovery of insulin. No
-is it important that the information you are seeking be right up to date? date is mentioned anywhere in the article. There is no copyright on the article either.
However, all the links on the website worked.
-is a date provided to show when the material was created or last updated?
-what is copyright status?
-do the links work?
HOW? The publisher of the website, Diabetes UK, was founded in 1934, and is British based. It is a
-did you research the author or the publisher of the information? research charity and is described as one of the foremost diabetes charities. When I was
researching using advanced google techniques, this website was one of the first to pop up.
-did the advanced Google techniques (site:link; site:query; site:related) produce
high quality sites as well?
WHERE? This information is based in the United Kingdom, it is not Canadian.
-where is the information from? Is it Canadian?
-check the URL for indicators of reliability (ie .gov; .gc.ca; .edu)