Evaluating What Your Find on Websites
The following guidelines are important to consider when evaluating websites (they help with articles and books, too!):
Authority:
- Is it clear who is responsible for the web page?
- Is there a way of verifying the page’s sponsor? (An email address is not enough).
- Is it clear who wrote the material? Are their credentials clearly stated?
- If the material is copyrighted, is the name of the copyright holder given?
Accuracy:
- Are the sources for any factual information clearly cited for verification?
- Is the information clear of blatant grammatical, spelling and/or other typographical errors?
- If there are graphs or charts are they clearly labeled? Is source information given?
Objectivity:
- What is the purpose of providing the information? (public service, profit, or persuasion)
- Is the information free of advertising?
- If there is advertising is it clearly differentiated from the informational content?
Currency:
- Are there dates on the page indicating when it was written? When it was last revised?
- Are there indications that the material is kept current?
Coverage:
- Is there an indication that the page is complete and not still under construction?
- If there is a print equivalent, does the page state if the entire work is on the web or only parts of it?
(These criteria based on checklist in the book Web Wisdom: How to Evaluate and Create Information Quality on the Web by Jan Alexander and Marsha Ann Tate)
