Website Evaluation Exercise (CRAAP) - The Iroquois of the Northeast

Website:


http://www.carnegiemnh.org/exhibits/north-south-east-west/iroquois/index.html

Currency:

• Website is 11 years old (1998).
• All the links are functional.
• The information seems relatively current (as much of it is about past events and culture). However, there is no information from the past ten years; for example, there is no mention of Native American run casinos.

Relevance:

• The information about the Iroquois Nations is broad but not deep (covers a lot of topics but not much information about each). This website would be a good one for an introduction to the Iroquois (assuming the information is correct; there are no citations) but I would find other sources for an in-depth study.
• I would be comfortable using this website as one of several resources for a research paper. It has no citations but it is maintained by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Authority:

• The site is part of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
• The site is an ".org" site.
• There is no actual "author" listed only a copyright by the museum.
• There is contact information at the Carnegie Museum homepage.
• Except for the fact that there is no actual research cited, this website seems to have a relatively high level of authority.
  

Accuracy:

• This information comes from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
• The information is not supported by evidence.
• The information is neither reviewed nor referred.
  
• I can verify some of the information from personal knowledge.
• The language has no grammatical errors and seems relatively unbiased.
• All in all, this information seems pretty accurate, except for the lack of citations.
  

Purpose:

• The purpose of this website is to inform.
  
• The fact that it is a museum website suggests that its purpose is to provide an accurate depiction of Iroquois history, but there is not purpose stated.
• The information is presented as fact, but there is no actual evidence presented.
• The point of view appears to be objective.
• The fact that this website is from a white American museum means that the information provided is likely to be biased in favor of the white/European perspective of history. The website only mentions peaceful interactions between the Natives and colonists. There in no mention of the white conquest of Native peoples.
  
• The purpose of this website appears to be to provide information about Iroquois cultural traditions, but is biased toward the white point of view as evidenced by the omission of information about white conquest.