Research Guides: Interior Design: Web Resources

Website Evaluation Tutorial

If you're starting a research assignment and want to do a quick review on how to evaluate websites. Check out our online website evaluation tutorial.

Website Domain Types

.com – Commercial websites

Generally created by a business or corporation and is for profit.
Provides information on products or is motivated by sales.

.edu – Educational websites

Created by a college, university or grade school.
Information is provided for academic purposes.
Highly regulated and can only be owned by an educational organization.

.gov – Government websites

Created by local, state, and national goverments.
Information is provided for the public.
Highly regulated and can only be owned by a government organization.

.org – Organization website

Used by both non-profit organizations, for profit corporations and individuals.
Organization websites can be owned by a corporation and be sales motivated, owned by an individual or owned by a non-profit organization that provides information supporting a specific cause or viewpoint.
Carefully evaluate non-profit organizations as they can have a particular viewpoint on an issue, so the information they provide can be biased or slanted in order to support their viewpoint.

Associations

American Society of Interior Designers
Through education, knowledge sharing, advocacy, community building and outreach, we strive to advance the interior design profession and, in the process, to demonstrate and celebrate the power of design to positively change people’s lives.
Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA)
The Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) is an independent, non-profit accrediting organization for interior design education programs at colleges and universities in the United States and internationally. For more than 35 years, this knowledge-driven organization has been passionately committed to the ongoing enrichment of the interior design profession through identifying, developing and promoting quality standards for the education of entry-level interior designers, and then encouraging, accrediting and supporting educational programs to aspire to those standards.
Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ)
NCIDQ Certification is the industry's recognized indicator of proficiency in interior design principles and a designer's commitment to the profession.
Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC)
IDEC’s mission is the advancement of interior design education, scholarship, and service. A membership organization, IDEC is recognized as the leading organization and authority on interior design education.
Interior Design Society (IDS)
The Interior Design Society (IDS) is an independent national organization. One of the country's largest design organizations dedicated to serving the residential interior design industry, IDS embraces four core values including professionalism, community, influence and growth. The IDS National headquarters is located in High Point, NC, the world's home furnishings capital. Founded in 1973 by the National Home Furnishings Association (NHFA) to support interior designers based within furniture stores, the Interior Design Society has long since expanded its focus to provide support to professional interior design entrepreneurs nationwide.
International Furnishings and Design Associations IFDA
At IFDA, our mission is to inspire collaboration within the furnishings and design industry to support its people, their products and services.
International Interior Design Association (IIDA)
The International Interior Design Association (IIDA) is the Commercial Interior Design Association with a global reach. We support design professionals, industry affiliates, educators, students, firms and their clients through our network of 15,000+ members across 58 countries. We advocate for advancements in education, design excellence, legislation, leadership, accreditation, and community outreach to increase the value and understanding of Interior Design as a profession that enhances business value and positively impacts the health and well-being of people’s lives every day.

Web Resources in Interior Design

Architectural Digest
Our website, archdigest.com, offers constant original coverage of the interior design and architecture worlds, new shops and products, travel destinations, art and cultural events, celebrity style, and high-end real estate as well as access to print features and images from the AD archives.
Design Milk
You’ll always hear it from Design Milk first. Since 2006, we’ve been feeding your design obsession with what’s cool and what’s next in architecture, interior design, automotive, fashion, technology + art.
Elle Decor
Elledecor.com delivers decorating inspiration and architecture and renovation ideas, plus lots more. You'll discover stylish finds; chic shops; art, culture, and travel guides; and advice for entertaining—everything you need to live well!
Interior Design Magazine
Interior Design Magazine offers the latest interior design trends, ideas, contemporary architecture and design news.
Library of Congress Digital Archives of Architecture
Historical Image collections covering Architecture and Design

Evaluating a Website

When deciding whether to use information from a website, whether it be a .com, .edu, or anything else, you must critically evaluate that information for authenticity and relevance.

Who is it by?- Who is the author of the information? Is it a corporation or business? Is it a researcher in the field? Is it a layperson? Finding out who is posting the information is critical to deciding whether or not the author is an authority on the subject.

Who is it for?- Who is the intended audience? Is the information intended for children, general readers, shoppers, etc?

When?- How old is the information you are looking at? Do you need information that is relatively recent or is older information okay?

How much?- How extensive is the information presented? Is the topic covered in-depth, or is it just a sub-topic of more general coverage. How does the topic coverage compare to other websites on the same topic? Are there links to more information? Do the links go to other parts of the website or do they go to outside websites?

Why?- Why is the author posting this information? There are several possible reasons, including to:

Inform- the author is simply stating informational facts, such as dates.
Explain- the author is explaining a subject.
Entertain- the author is attempting to entertain the reader.
Persuade- the author is striving to change your point of view on a subject.
Sell- the author is trying to get you to purchase something.

Videos

Google Advanced Search

Quick Tip: If you are searching Google for a website with a specific domain, such as a .gov or .edu, when you type in your search add "site:" and the domain type at the end of your search term. For example, if you wanted to find government websites on gun control, type in "gun control site:.gov". Or if you wanted to specifically search for non-profit websites that had information on wildlife, type in "wildlife site:.org".

Google Advanced Search
Use to specify website domain when searching, such as .gov sites for government information.