primary sources

Evaluating Primary Source Web Sites: More Info

• Who is responsible for the website? Hints from URLs

• Generally a web sites produced by an educational or governmental institution is are more reliable than personal web sites. Remember though that educational institutions often provide web space for their students, staff and faculty that are not vetted by the institution. Personal sites may be recognized by checking the URL for the use of a tilde (~) followed by a personal name, or the words "users," "members," "students," or "faculty." Whenever you come across a personal web site, investigate the author's credentials.

  More information about domain codes:

  • Domain name registries around the world
    
    
    http://www.norid.no/domenenavnbaser/domreg.html
  • Domain names
    
    
    http://faculty.washington.edu/~jalbano/domain_names.html
  • Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
    
    
    http://www.icann.org/
  • Management of internet names and addresses
    
    
    http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/domainhome.htm

Image: 1919
Cleveland Advocate article, "All We Want is Courage," Writes Local Boy "Over There." Courtesy of
The African-American Experience in Ohio.