|
Evaluation Criteria - Applying Print Criteria to Evaluate Web Sites
Accuracy
- How reliable and free from errors is the information? Has the page been checked by editors and is that fact indicated somewhere?
Are there citations or references listed to check accuracy? These need to be verified.
Is the site part of a scholarly or academic organization?
Authority
Has someone taken responsibility for the information on the web site? Did the person who created or provided the information have any qualification to write on the topic?
Has the information been endorsed by any experts in the field?
Is the site part of an organization or university known for their expertise in a particular field?
Can you contact the company or author through a postal address or phone number
Objectivity
- Is the information presented free of bias? Are the goals for the web site clearly stated?
- Is the information presented selectively or completly? Does the site focus only on the positive or the negative aspects of the topic?
- Is the information presented in a manner to sway the user or is the purpose to provide information? Is emotion used as a means of persuasion?
- A useful site which examines news on both sides of the political spectrum for misrepresentation and spin is Spinsanity: Countering Rhetoric with Reason.
Currency
- Is the content up-to-date? Does the site post the date indicating when the last changes were made?
- Are the facts and figures recent or from dated sources?
- Do the provided links work?
Coverage
- Is there enough information to cover all aspects of the topic or is the coverage superficial?
- Are citations and references provided so that statements or claims can be backed up?
- Are links to other web sites provided?
Authenticating Online Information
The “Link” Command
- Seeing who links to or talks about a particular web page can offer insight into its quality. Doing a link search can help you validate information by showing what pages link to it. Go to a search engine and enter the “link” command followed by the web page’s address (URL) - i.e. link:http://www.richland.org/shslibrary
Author Search
- Do a background check on the author of a web page. Go to a search engine and enter the author’s name in quotations - i.e. “lynn donvan”. Results may include other articles written by the author, about the author, or web sites that use the author’s work as examples.
|
