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The breadth and depth of information on the web grows everyday, making
imore and more difficult to find reliable and accurate sources of information.
A simple search on
www.google.com scans
more than 3 Billion web pages
Objective Evaluation Criteria
Why?
Almost anyone can publish on the web.
itors and/or information professionals.
Web standards to ensure accuracy are not implemented globally.
Criteria: Ask yourself the W’s
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
Who
Who is Responsible for the page content?
Look for the name of the author, organization, or agency.
Look for links: "About us", "Biography", "Who am I", etc.
Does the author list their credentials?
Do a search on the author.
Email the author.
Is the author qualified to write on the topic?
What
What is the content and layout of the page?
Does the content fit your needs?
Is the content free of grammatical errors?
Intended audience?
Is there a good balance between pictures and text?
What (continued)
Are there links to other pages?
Are the sources they used cited?
Do these links work?
Are the citations/links well organized and chosen?
Is there a limited amount of advertising?
Where
Where is the page posted?
Read the URL carefully.
Is the domain appropriate for the content?
Evaluating a Web Site
Presented by Amy Dankowski
Commercial - .com
Government - .gov (.mil, .us )
Educational - .edu
Non Profit - .org
When
When was the page posted, and is it updated regularly?
Look for the date "last updated" at the bottom of the page.
Is your topic time sensitive?
If so:
Make sure the page been updated recently.
If no date listed think twice about using it as a resource.
Why
Why was the page created?
Intentions of the author.
Is the information presented in a bias way?
Why did the author create the page?
Personal
Project (school or other wise)
Organization or institution
Adding it all up
Review the W’s
Use your best judgment
Examples
Good and Bad
http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Square/9063/index/coltrane.html
http://www.duke.edu/~jlk8/jazz/jazz.html
http://www.johncoltrane.com/
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=CASS70309121216&sql=Bdvftxqr5ldfe
Bibliography:
other sources to check
Barker, Joe, and Saifon Obromsook.
Evaluating Web Pages:
Questions to Ask & Strategies for Getting the Answers.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html
Grassian, E.
Thinking Critically About World Wide Web Resources
(http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/instruct/web/critical.htm)
Kirk, Elizabeth E.
Evaluating Information Found on the Internet.
(http://www.library.jhu.edu/elp/useit/evaluate/).
Tillman, Hope.
Evaluating Quality on the Net.
(http://www.hopetillman.com/findqual.html)
These notes are from a PowerPoint Presentation that you may see during your
Library Orientation and introduction to research class.
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