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Special Education: Evaluating Websites

Welcome! This guide is designed for students in the Special Education program at Cal State Fullerton.

Evaluating Websites

Google Searching

A smart way to search Google is to use domain searching. For instance, to limit your results to resources from educational institutions, such as universities, use Site:.edu followed by your keywords.

google example

More useful domains:
site:.org  - organizations
site:latimes.com  - Los Angeles Times articles
site:nytimes.com  - New York Times articles
site: www.ed.gov  - searches U.S. Dept. of Education

More Domains

site:.gov  - government sites

site:.edu  - academic sites

site:.org  - organizations

site:latimes.com  - Los Angeles Times articles

site:nytimes.com  - New York Times articles

site: www.cde.ca.gov  - searches California Dept. of Education

site: www.ed.gov  - searches U.S. Dept. of Education

Questions to Ask

AUTHORITY:Who created (author/s) this info and why? Is there an “About” tab?What knowledge or skills do they have in the area?

OBJECTIVITY:Is the info biased? Are balance perspectives presented?

How does sponsorship impact the perspective of the info?

REALIABLITY:Is the info accurate?Does the info come from a school, university, business, company site, or government institution?

TIMELINESS:Is there a created date or copyright year?How current are the sources or links?

RELEVANCE:Is this info helpful to your project?