Authenticating Resources

The Oil Crisis: a Web Site Evaluation Assignment

Consider the topic of the Oil Crisis. Take a brief look at all of the following five sites, and then select two to evaluate more thoroughly.

  1. Oil Companies Limiting Refining Capacity To Drive Up Gas Prices
  2. State of the Energy Industry, Petroleum and Natural Gas Issues
  3. The Energy Crisis Revisited
  4. The End of the Age of Oil
  5. The Silent Oil Crisis

When you evaluate the two sites you have selected, please address these questions:

Who are the authors of the Web page, or who is responsible for it? What gives them their authority or expertise to write?
Do you have good reason to believe that the information on the site is accurate?
What is the author's point of view? Do the authors provide any supportive evidence for their conclusions?
What is the purpose of the site? Who do you think is the intended audience?
Is this a commercial, governmental, professional, personal, or academic Web site?
How easy is it to navigate through the site to find what you are looking for?
Has the site been kept up-to-date?
Does the site offer anything unique, insightful, or valuable?

Yes, it is difficult to be both thorough and brief at the same time, but please do your best.

This assignment is courtesy of  John R. Henderson
Ithaca College Library