| How to evaluate Websites | Websites about Theater |
| Databases vs. Websites |
How to Evaluate Websites
You should check online information for reliability against the following points:
| What you need to know | What you should ask yourself | What you need to look for |
| Authority It is clear who has written the information |
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| Relevancy The information is relevant to you |
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| Accuracy The information can be checked |
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| Timely The information is current |
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| Bias What type of information is presented |
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URL: What does the URL (Web address) say about the producer of the web site, and its purpose? Look at the suffix in the domain name; this should give you an idea of who the author/publisher is.
- .com Commercial site
- .edu US institutions
- .gov Government agency
- .org Non-Profit Organizations
- .mil Military site
- ~ ("tilde") Personal site
What if I cannot find the author? If you can't find an author's name on the web page, check some of the other pages to see if you can find one. If you are unable to find an author, do you really want to use this information?
What is biased information? Biased information gives one point of view or perspective. Unbiased information is either neutral or provides multiple view points.
Databases vs. Web Sites
Information you find in articles from the databases are more reliable than information from Web sites because they have gone through some kind of review process. These articles are referred to as scholarly, academic or peer review. Click this link if you are unsure what is the difference between scholarly and non-scholarly journals.
Websites about Theater
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Research guides, digital collections, information on primary sources, and dozens of links to Web resources from a major performing arts library.
Library of Congress Performing Arts Encyclopedia
Research guides, bibliographies, digital collections, information on primary sources, and links to Web resources from the performing arts division of the nation's library.
Curtain Up: The Internet Theatre Magazine of News and Reviews
Online magazine of reviews, this site reviews performances in New York, London, Philadelphia, and California.
Theatre Communications Group (TGC)
The organization provides an employment bulletin and publishes American Theatre magazine, plays, translations and theatre reference books. TCG is the nation's largest not-for-profit publisher of dramatic literature
Professional Associations
American Association of Community Theatre
National Alliance for Musical Theatre