WHO ?

... there is an email link for the author ("Email Stacey"), but the page provides no other information about this person. It's impossible to tell if she is an authority on the subject, someone whose thoughts could be quoted as such.

When you use a scholarly book or print article you don't have to worry about this because it has already been examined thoroughly by editors and is often "peer reviewed" by other scholars in the field prior to being accepted for publication.

Here are some ways someone could be considered an authority:

- professor of a subject related to the topic (e.g. economics, women's studies, Latin American studies)

- someone employed in a capacity related to the subject matter (e.g., in this example, a current or former employee or manager of an export factory; a person associated with a watch-dog organization monitoring maquiladoras, etc.)

author of other books and articles on the subject

Sometimes more information about the author or page can be gleaned by going up one level in the structure of the site. This is best done if the site provides a link for the user. (If there isn't one, you have to try lopping off the last element or two of the URL and seeing if it goes to a page you are allowed to access.)

This article "The Struggle of Women in Maquiladoras" provides two uplinks, one to "Holding the Line Main Page" and "Women on the Border Main Page."