Using Blogs for Research (Part 2)

I talked last time about using blogs for research. That got me to thinking about how I’d evaluate a blog for quality. 

As information, a blog can be evaluated the same as a book, magazine article, web site, etc.  Here are some of the questions I often ask when I’m hitting a new blog:

• Who is/are the author(s)?  Do they give any credentials about themselves to give them authority to speak on the issues he/she is writing about?  I use this more than any other criteria to judge the usefulness of a blog.  
• Does the blog refer to other credible sources/material? 
• What kind of sources are they using to back up their statements?  Citing blogs that spiral down in to rumors from a message board don’t count.
• Does the author(s) give you a means to contact them or comment on their work?  (If not, the cynic in me always asks: What are they hiding???) 
• Does the blog have some kind of editorial or peer review of the content?  (Not a deal breaker, but it does lend credibility to the information at hand.) 
• Is the blog associated with a credible research institution, business, publication, university, etc.?  (Again, not a deal breaker, but it does lend credibility to the information at hand.) 
• Is the author backing their statements up with evidence when needed (i.e. citing their sources)? 
• How current are the entries? 
• Does it contain blatant errors you can spot? 
• Does the information in the blog ring true to what you already know about the topic?  (Trust your instincts.  If the information sounds “funny” for some reason, investigate further.) 
• Is this a rumor blog?  This might be more common with undergrads than in a business setting, but rumor is not information.  Some tech sites like macrumors.com should be taken with a dose of salt.  (Which is not a slam against Mac Rumors, only that I wouldn’t use it to make business decisions.)

What do you think?  Am I missing any criteria here?