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WEB SITE EVALUATION CRITERIA
CAVEAT LECTOR: LET THE READER BEWARE

 

 

REMEMBER: Almost anyone can have a web page. So some information on the Web is biased, undocumented, or just plain wrong. You will need to evaluate web sites for accuracy, audience, authority, currency, objectivity, and purpose. Here is a checklist you can use: Note: The greater number of questions listed below answered "yes", the more likely it is you can determine whether the source is of high information quality.

ACCURACY:

  1. Are the sources for any factual information clearly listed so they can be verified in another source? (If not, the page may still be useful to you as an example of the ideas of the organization, but it is not useful as a source of factual information).
  2. Is the information free of grammatical, spelling, and typographical errors? (These kinds of errors not only indicate a lack of quality control, but can actually produce inaccuracies in information.)

AUDIENCE:

  1. Who do you think the author/s of the web site are trying to reach?
  2. Is there a particular group or segment of society that the author/s are targeting?

AUTHORITY:

  1. Is it clear what organization is responsible for the contents of the page?
  2. Is there a link to a page describing the goals of the organization?
  3. Is there a way of verifying the legitimacy of this organization? That is, is there a phone number or postal address to contact for more information? (Simply an email address is not enough.)
  4. Is there a statement that the content of the page has the official approval of the organization?
  5. Is it clear whether this is a page from the national or local chapter of the organization?
  6. Is there a statement giving the organization's name as copyright holder?

If it’s a personal web page:

  1. Is it clear what individual is responsible for the contents of the page?
  2. Does the individual responsible for the page indicate his or her qualifications for writing on this topic?
  3. Is there a way of verifying the legitimacy of this individual? (Because it is difficult to verify the legitimacy of an individual, personal home pages may be a useful source for personal opinion but use extreme caution when using them as a source for factual information.)

CURRENCY:

  1. Are there dates on the page to indicate:
    1. When the page was written?
    2. When the page was first placed on the Web?
    3. When the page was last revised?
  2. Are there any other indications that the material is kept current?

OBJECTIVITY:

  1. Are the organization's biases clearly stated?
  2. If there is any advertising on the page, is it clearly differentiated from the informational content?

PURPOSE:

  1. Is the author's purpose to inform, e.g. provide new information, current events, etc? 
  2. Is the author's purpose to explain, e.g. describe a process, teach, etc?
  3. Is the author's purpose to persuade, e.g. change your mind, convince you to buy, etc?

 

Domain Names

 

The domain name in the URL (Universal Resource Locator, or web site address) can be a clue to who published the web page and how reliable it is. The most common domain name suffixes on the Internet are:

 

.edu: The page has some connection to an educational institution. Web pages sponsored by educational institutions are usually the most reliable, but you still want to evaluate the individual author and his or her authority to write on a given topic. Be aware that the ~ or tilde symbol in a URL is a clue that you are viewing an individual's web page.

 

.org: The page is sponsored by a non-profit organization. These web sites may have some bias, but can be useful for research purposes if the organization is considered an authority or collects information that no one else does.

 

.gov: The page is produced by a government agency and may provide the only source for some information, such as census data.

 

.mil: The page is produced by the U.S. Department of Defense.

 

.com: The page is produced by a commercial entity. It may be trying to sell you something, not necessarily just its opinion. Be wary of using these sites for research.

 

.net: --is officially reserved for network associations such as ISPs, but in practice anyone can register a .net name.

 

List of http://aerohost.com/new-domains.htm that are either coming soon or are already in use. In addition to domain name suffixes, international Web sites often include a code suffix that follows the domain name and that indicates the country the site is based. U.S. Internet sites rarely use country code suffixes; in fact, these suffixes are optional for other countries. For example, the country code suffix for Japan is .jp, but a Web site in Japan can choose not to include this code. Here is a complete list of Domain country names: http://www.domainit.com/country-domains.htm

Taking URLs Apart

If you are unable to answer all these questions about an individual Web page, try manipulating the address to dig deeper into the Web site. For example, if no sponsoring institution or author information was found at the URL: http://www.auburn.edu/~jenkijh/criminaljustice.html

 

Then, try opening the URL minus the "criminaljustice.html" filename, e.g.: http://www.auburn.edu/~jenkijh

 

If you still don't find the information you need, try taking off the next element, i.e. the directory name(s). Directory names are located between slashes (/) and do not contain any extensions such as .html, .htm, or .shtml. You can "back-up" the address in this manner until you reach the stem address which usually includes the machine name, institution identifier, and domain name, ".com", e.g. "www.auburn.edu". Once you identify all the elements, you can evaluate the document using the guidelines listed above.

 

Try your hand at evaluating the sites found on this page: http://www.lib.auburn.edu/hum/evalsites.html