January 20, 2009

Tips for evaluating legal websites

The Internet has become an important tool for conducting legal research, but to ensure the information you are relying on is from a legitimate source, evaluate the site for credibility and accuracy. To quickly evaluate a website, ask yourself the following questions:

• Does the site cover the geographic location I need?
  • Use websites that primarily contain information about BC or Canada as a whole.
• Who created the information?
  • Look for who provided the information and what their credentials are, often found under “About us.” Credible resources include the websites of government, the courts, educational institutions, libraries, bar associations, law societies, non-profits, and public interest law groups.
  • Legitimate websites will contain a way to contact the organization or webmaster. Be careful about providing your e-mail address or other personal information on websites that you don’t know.
• Is the website accurate and clear?
  • Do the website's authors/providers cite their sources or tell the reader where they got their information, or on what they based their opinions?
  • Look for unbiased, unemotional legal information. You should be able to confirm the information you find on one website with that on other websites or print sources. Testimonials are not reliable.
• Is the information up to date?
  • Most good websites tell you when the information was written or last updated on the site. In most fields, anything more than five years old is considered outdated.
  • Consider also how current the author's information is.
• Does the website ask for money?
  • Many high-quality websites provide free information. Make sure you are not asked to pay any fees or charges.
• Does the website claim to offer advice?
  • Beware of websites that claim to offer legal advice or ask for personal information. Nothing replaces the advice of a lawyer. Look for a disclaimer that describes the limitations and authority of the site’s content.
• Is it easy to use?
  • Look for useful features such as a glossary, Help menu, search function, legal dictionary, or list of additional resources and links.
  • If a site is difficult to navigate or the links are slow and/or many are broken, it may not be worth your time to use it.
  • Note that any links provided to other sites will say a lot about the legitimacy of the original website. Evaluate each new site it’s linked to.