Health Literacy: Good or Garbage?

• Government, educational or organizational sites are often preferable to commercial ones.
• Is contact information easily located and detailed?

• Check header or footer of home page for sponsor names and contact information.
• Check URL for domain: .gov, .edu, .org, .com.

Goal(s) of the site:

• Objective information?
• Opinion?
• Advocacy of specific viewponts or activities?
• Selling a product or service?

• Who is the intended audience?

• Check for details about the sponsor's mission under About Us, Philosophy, or similar links.

• Expertise in topic should be evidenced by author's credentials and experience.
• Authors should be easily and clearly identified.
• Is the sponsoring organization knowledgeable or respected in the field?

• Check About link for author's credentials
• Google or search other sources for more information about the author or sponsoring organization.

• Is coverage comprehensive or superficial?
• Is it well organized?
• Is there any bias apparent? Are other viewpoints presented or just one?
• What's the evidence for the statements made? Are peer-reviewed research studies cited?
• Are sources reasonably current, fully and accurately cited?
• Do links on the site go to other credible or quality sources that are relevant and appropriate for the topic? Do these links work?
• Is grammar and spelling generally error-free?
• Can information be confirmed elsewhere?
• Is advertising, if any, clearly distinguished from informational content?

• Carefully review various pages and links.
• For more information about peer reviewed research, see the Popular vs. Academic Sources section of this guide.
• Search for other independent online or print sources to confirm accuracy of information.

• When was it published, created, last reviewed or updated?
• For health information, current is usually better as outdated infomation can be dangerous.

• Look for dates on home and other pages (usually at bottom).