LibGuides: ENGL 111&amp;112: Credible Websites

Great Websites

Evaluating websites is critical. There's a lot of good information on the open web, but there's also a lot of stuff that isn't credible, valuable, or true. If you ever need help determining if a particular website is a good source, chat with us and ask for help!

When evaluating websites, consider:

Author credibility and expertise. Do you still trust a website with no author?
Date
Citations and where they got their information
Bias
Audience, purpose, and scope
Publisher or source title
Can you verify it in other places?

Google the website. Google the author. Google the publication. Google any claims that seem suspicious. Read with an extremely critical eye. Look closely at the data, charts, and statistics. And when in doubt, check with a librarian!

Library of Congress
The Library of Congress has millions of digitized photos, maps, audio, newspapers, films, and more. The search box is located in the top right.
World Digital Library
Find sources from other cultures and places. Explore by place, time, or topic. Nearly 20,000 photographs, maps, and manuscripts.
Hathi Trust
Digital Library of millions of items, including many government publications. You can search by items that are full-text and immediately accessible, or you can broaden your search to citation-only items and request them through Interlibrary Loan.

Internet Archive This link opens in a new window
Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more.

Statistics

Demographics:

Explore Census Data
Data from the US Census on housing, education, poverty, demographics, and more.
United Nations Statistics Division
Data from all over the world on the economy, population, and the environment.
World Bank Indicators
Data on everything from arable land to access to electricity to ATMs per capita.

Politics and the Economy:

ParlGov
Data on political parties, elections, and cabinets in democratic countries from all over the world.
Eurostat
European stats and news on trade, industry, business, environment, agriculture, transportation, employment, and population demographics.

Culture:

World Tourism Organization
Tourism data by country. Who went where (from where) and why?
Global Barometer Surveys
Search by regional perspective (Afro, Arab, Asian, Eurasia, Latino, or Global) for infographics and articles on everything from social justice issues to gender equality to religion.
Eurobarometer
Public opinions surveys across the EU from 1974 to the present. Example questions include "What do you think are the most important issues facing our country?" and "How satisfied are you?"
World Values Survey
"Thousands of political scientists, sociologists, social psychologists, anthropologists and economists have used these data to analyze such topics as economic development, democratization, religion, gender equality, social capital, subjective well-being... and linkages between cultural factors and economic development." - What We Do page

ENGL 111&112

Quick Links

Great Websites

Statistics