.gov: Searched "censorship AND law" on Google.
"Obscenity, Indecency and Profanity". Federal Communication Commission. FCC.gov. Web 10 June 2012.
This site is an official government site about current US censorship laws. The FCC has the authority to write about the subject. Evenness is not inherently assumed since the FCC has interests in laws. But their purpose is clearly to keep regulated communication in the U.S. censored (to a limited extent).
.edu: Searched "censorship AND history" on Google.
Ickovic, Caleb; Lane, Cristina; Jones, Martha. "Censorship in China". Duke University. Duke.edu. 12 April 2006. Web. 10 June 2012.
The sources cited under the article's "references" section is thorough, although they do cite Wikipedia. The article takes a balanced approach at Chinese censorship laws, giving it evenness. It was published in 2006, giving it some date, but can still be considered timely.
.com: Searched "censorship AND history" on Google.
Head, Tom. "Censorship in the United States" About.com. Web. 10 June 2012.
The author is a civil liberties writer for About.com giving him the authority to write about the topic. The purpose of the site is to offer encyclopedic article about various topics.
.org: Searched "censorship AND history" on Google.
Newth, Mette. "The Long History of Censorship". Beacon for Freedom of Expression. Web 10 June 2012.
The organization's purpose is to offer a database of articles on censorship. Because of their mission, their article on the history of censorship gives them the authority on the topic.
I would suggest the .com or .edu domains when searching for information like this. Searching .gov can get some results, but for a historical perspective it doesn't offer much. There are several scholarly articles under .edu domains. I don't think that the domain means much when it comes to evaluating sources. The best way is to use the ASPECT.
Hi, Brian:
ReplyDeleteThank you for your report. It does depend on the topic what might be the best place to look. That is part of the evaluation as well. It is important to have criteria and ASPECT is a good place to start. Useful .org sites are often watchdog groups that provide access to current information, legislation, court cases, etc. as a way to keep the citizenry informed. Of course there are also biased .org sites as well. Searcher beware.
Cheers,
Andrea