Works Cited for Essay 3

This is an in-class exercise to evaluate sources for the third essay that we wrote.  (I haven't posted it up yet, and I missed posting up the second essay, but those will be coming shortly.  I've been horribly lax with keeping up my blog, I'm ashamed to admit.)  For quick reference purpose, this was a cause-effect essay focusing on the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 B.C.E.

Works Cited.

Source 1:

"Alexander Defeats The Persians, 331 BC." Eyewitness To History. Ibis Communications, Inc., 2000. Web. 16 Oct 2010. <http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/alexander.htm>

• No author is listed, so the credibility of the author cannot be evaluated.
• The sponsor of the website is a group called "Ibis Communications, Inc." -- but the website doesn't seem to have an "About Us" page, despite a search for it through the index and the site's
• There are no links that takes a reader outside of that particular page, but it does list two print sources at the end of the page.
• The info seems to be free of basic errors, but there does not seem to be an editor.
• The article is not dated itself, but the pre-formed citation at the bottom lists its date as 2000.

Source information related to this page is missing, and it doesn't appear to have been edited recently.  Because of these two facts, this is probably not a good source and I would likely not use it again.

Source 2:

Knox, Ellis. "Alexander the Great." Boise State University. Boise State University, n.d. Web. 16 Oct 2010. <http://www.boisestate.edu/courses/westciv/alexander/09.shtml>

• The author of this information is Professor Ellis Knox of Boise State University.
• There is no date.
• Some of the information of this site was confirmed by another source, but as I'm looking back on it now, it seems that other facts were contradicted by other sources, meaning that it was only partially trustworthy as a source.
• There does not appear to be a bias.

Right away, this source should have told me that it was a reputable source.  It is on an educational website belonging to the Boise State University.  Unfortunately, there was contradictory information and it was not as useful of a source as it could have been.  I would not use this source again.

Source 3:

Porter, Barry. "Battle of Gaugamela: Alexander Versus Darius." Great Battles: Battles of Antiquity 1-7. Web. 16 Oct 2010. <http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-gaugamela-alexander-versus-darius.htm>.

• The author of this source is Barry Porter.  A search turned up a paucity of information concerning who he is.
• This article was apparently featured in a special issue of the Military History magazine, and has since been digitised and posted on the web.
• It does not link a reader elsewhere.
• A bias does not seem to be present.
• There is no date.

Little information about the author is present, but as it was posted in a magazine, it is likely edited for accuracy before it was published.  This article in particular is a source I would use again, although I am not sure about the website in particular.