More information on this topic can be found
in Chapter 12 of the textbook.

Unit 10: Evaluating Hits

Reasons to Evaluate:

A published web page doesn't necessarily validate the author's credentials. You don't have to be a medical doctor to put up a web page about a health related topic. You don't have to have an attorney's license to run a web site about how to pass a bar exam. Besides the background of the web page author, there are considerations about how frequently the data is updated, and other questions as to the data's accuracy and validity.

Guidelines for Evaluation:

More detail on the following five criteria can be found on pages 120-121 of the textbook.

1. Who is the author?
2. How current is the information?
3. Who is the audience?
4. Is the content accurate and objective?
5. What is the purpose of the information?

Online Evaluation Resources:

   Brief Guides:

• Evaluating the Documents You Have Found on the World Wide Web
  http://www.curtin.edu.au/curtin/library/staffpages/gwpersonal/senginestudy/zeval.htm
• Practical Steps in Evaluating Internet Resources
  http://milton.mse.jhu.edu:8001/research/education/practical.html
• Significance
  http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/signif.htm

    Extensive Guides:

• Criteria for Evaluation of Internet Information Resources
  http://www.vuw.ac.nz/~agsmith/evaln/index.htm
• Evaluating Information Found on the Internet
  http://milton.mse.jhu.edu:8001/research/education/net.html
• Evaluating Web Resources

    Biographies for Evaluating Web Resources:

• Evaluating Internet Resources
  http://refserver.lib.vt.edu/libinst/evaluating.html
• Evaluating Web Sites for Educational Uses
  http://www.unc.edu/cit/guides/irg-49.html
• Information Quality WWW Virtual Library
  http://www.ciolek.com/WWWVL-InfoQuality.html
• Evaluating Web Resources - Bibliography
  http://www.science.widener.edu/~withers/wbstrbib.htm

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Last updated: 16 Apr 2003