Website Evaluation

Access, Evaluate, Use

How to Research Effectively Using the Internet

EVALUATING WEBSITESBy: Mrs. Unangst, Your Information Specialist

What makes a web page useful for research?

Web page

Which URLs should I choose?

• URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) have a specific structure. Knowing it will help in evaluating which sites to use.

This is the format of the URL: protocol://host/path/filename

For example, this is a URL on the home page of the House Committee on Agriculture of the U.S. House of Representatives: http://www.house.gov/agriculture/schedule.htm

Structure of this URL: 1. Protocol: http • Host computer name: www • Second-level domain name: house • Top-level domain name: gov (this is your clue!!!!)• Directory name: agrictulture • File name: schedule.htm

Several top-level domains (TLDs) common

in the USA:

• .k12 –schools-CAUTION- Could be a class project

• .com –commercial enterprise- CAUTION-advertising ahead

• .edu –colleges-CAUTION- the ~ means a personal site within the college domain (i.e. college student)

• .gov –government-Most reliable

• .mil –military-Reliable

• .net –network access provider-CAUTION-Check for bias

• .org –usually nonprofit organization-Reliable but check for bias

New domain names were approved in November 2000 by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN): .biz, .museum, .info, .pro (for professionals) .name (for individuals), .aero (for the aerospace industry), and .coop (for cooperatives). These domain names are beginning to become available.

.co is being used by Overstock.com now in commercials

Country Codes:(the site may not be in English)

EXAMPLES:• us = USA• uk = United Kingdom• gb = Great Britain• au = Australia• fr = France• es = Spain

I hyper-linked to a site – how do I know it’s a good one?

The 5 W’s of Evaluating Internet Sites:• Who is the author or sponsor? Is he/she an expert?

Can he/she be contacted?• What information is included on the web site? • When was the site created or updated?• Where is the source of the information? Is there a

bibliography? • Why was the info written? What is the site’s purpose?

Is it fact or opinion?

Questions To Think About -

Does this site address the topic you are researching? Was the page worth visiting?

Do you have good reason to believe that the information on the site is accurate? Do authors provide any supportive evidence for their conclusions?

Who are the authors of the Web page? What gives them their authority or expertise to write? Who is responsible for the site? Is this a commercial, governmental, personal, or academic Web site?

More Questions to Ponder - What is the purpose of the site? Is the main purpose to inform, to

persuade, or to sell you something? Do you understand what is being said? What do you think has not been said that should be addressed?

Is the site well organized? Are there misspelled words or examples of poor grammar? Do the links work and are they evaluated or annotated? Do they send you beyond the site to other reliable sources of information? Does the site offer anything unique or does it tell you little more than you could find in an encyclopedia? Are the graphics on the page clear and helpful or distracting and confusing?

C A R S• Credibility• Accuracy• Reasonableness• Support

Robert Harris is the author of the CARS eval method

Credibility

• Who is responsible?oOften difficult to determineoAny qualifications?oUsually found at beginning or end of

siteoLook for name of author & contact

informationLook at “About us” or “Contact us”

Author’s Credentials

• Look all overo Top, bottom, side bars, etc.o Look for a link for an “About us,” a “Biography” section,

a “Philosophy”

http://kathyschrock.net/dayinthelife/index.htm

• If nothing is listed, truncate the URLhttp://kathyschrock.net/

Organization Represented?

• Have you heard of this organization?http://descy.50megs.com/mankato/Mankato.html• Check for a disclaimer• How do we verify credibility?

o E-mail Address-- not enough!o Need Postal address oro Telephone number

• Check the home page (truncate URL)

Accuracy

• Date?o Warning: Undated factual or statistical information is

no better than anonymous information. Don’t use it.

• Revision date?• Errors?

o Spellingo Grammar

3 or more errors indicate a poor site

Reasonableness• Emotionalism• Purpose of the site

o Inform, explain, persuade, promote, sell, share, facts, disclose, rant, entice, etc.

• Biaso Is there bias in the site? Good or bad to use?

• Advertisingo Do ads coincide with document?o Is the advertiser a sponsor of the site?

Support

• Information in any other place?• Look at the domain

http://www.west-fargo.k12.nd.us .k12 school .edu college and university .com commercial .net internet resource .org nonprofit organization .gov government

Design• Is the page easy to read?• Is the material well organized?• Can you locate what you need quickly?• Do graphics add or detract to info?• Is flow of links logical & easy to follow?• Does the site require extra plug-ins?• Is it easy to get back to the original site?

Intended Audience

• Who is the information intended for?• Is the information too broad or too

narrow for the user?• Does the site use technical language

that would be hard to understand?

Web Site Evaluation What else is there besides content accuracy or

authority?

Site Access and Usability Information Structure and Design Relevance and Scope of Content Navigation within the Document Quality of Links Aesthetic and Affective Aspects…and more!

Sample Site Evaluation Rubrichttp://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/bluewebn/rubric.html

FORMAT 0 = poor 1=acceptable 2=excellent• User Friendly 0 1 2• Aesthetically Courteous 0 1 2• Aesthetically Appealing 0 1 2

CONTENT• Credible 0 1 2• Useful 0 1 2• Rich 0 1 2• Interdisciplinary 0 1 2

LEARNING PROCESS• Higher-order Thinking 0 1 2• Engaging 0 1 2• Taps Multiple Intelligences 0 1 2

• TOTAL = ___ / 20

Decision time!!

• Do you or do you not use the site? NO, if you cannot verify the authors or sponsoring

organization

• Then you need to carefully decide considering all of the criteria

C A R S

When to Use the Evaluation Sheets

• When evaluating pages on the Web• Let’s take a look at West Fargo School District’s

Library Web Resources (go to the link below, choose “Library” and then “Search Model” for handouts):

http://www.west-fargo.k12.nd.us/schools/wfhigh/library/searchmodel/

Suggestions for Successful Internet Assignments Most students prefer using the Internet for research and recreation. They will spend countless hours searching and surfing. However, they may not completely understand the Internet's strengths and weaknesses as both a research tool and as a general source of information. Here are some suggestions to help you design effective and successful Internet learning experiences. • Provide Guidance

If you know the URL, provide it. This way students should have no trouble getting to the web site.

Suggestions for Successful Internet Assignments • Plan Ahead

Check to make sure that the site is still working a few days before giving the assignment. Web pages have a strange way of vanishing without any warning. Alternately, provide several different sites to visit just in case one or two disappear.

• Request a Hard (Backup) CopyHave students make a print copy of the web site (Netscape automatically prints the date and time of access) or else ask them to note the date and time they used the site. This should help clear up any problems if the information changes all of a sudden, leaving some students with out-of-date material.

Avoid Busywork Ask students to do more than just fetch something off the Internet. Require them to visit one or more sites or search by topic. You might have them compare or evaluate several similar sites. Give them a list of criteria to follow for their comparison or evaluation. If assigning a research project that either wholly or partially includes internet sources, ask student to include their search strategy as a component of the research project. Request that they analyse methods they used to refine their search and what made the search more and less successful.

Suggestions for Successful Internet Assignments

Draw on Their Knowledge When assigning students to create a bibliography of web sites (webliography) Ask students to come up with their own method of evaluating and assessing web sources. They could list the criteria they feel is most important in site selection and inclusion.


• Don't Assume Student Expertise Often students cannot always differentiate between advertising and information on a web page, especially undergraduates and those unfamiliar with the web. Often students accept any information found on the web at face value. As above, provide them with the tools to evaluate the web sites they do find.


• Use Established, Trustworthy Web Guides/Directories You might want to use the library's Internet Resources as either a starting point for students or else as a link from your class web page. Other invaluable web directories include:Librarians Index to the Internet at http://www.lii.org http://www.lii.org

• Boolify - http://www.boolify.org/index.php• KidRex - http://www.kidrex.org/• Ask Kids - http://www.askkids.com/• Kids Click - http://kidsclick.org/• Yahoo Kids - http://kids.yahoo.com/• Study Search - http://www.studysearch.com.au/• Squirrel Net - http://www.squirrelnet.com/search/Google_SafeSearch.asp• Aga Kids - http://www.aga-kids.com/• Dib Dab Doo - http://www.dibdabdoo.com/•


• Inform the LibrariansLet us know about your assignment so that we can be prepared.

RECAP - 1. Have something specific to complete each time the students visit the web. 2. Show the students how you searched the web and dertermined which sites to give them to use (modeling) 3. Have the student explain why he chose the site (RADCAB sheet)


RADCAB - http://www.radcab.com/

Works Cited

• Harris, Robert. “Evaluating Internet Research Sources.” http://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm

• Alexander, Jan and Tate, Marsha. “Evaluating Web Resources.” http://www2.widener.edu/Wolfgram-Memorial-Library/webevaluation/webeval.htm

• Schrock, Kathy. “Critical Evaluation Information.” http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/eval.html

• Robert Lackie. Rider University Professor. Powerpoint presentation given at EMAnj conference.

While we are here -- Teaching Citation

http://nausetschools.org/research/works2.htm http://citationmachine.net/

One last Tidbit

Thinkfinityhttp://thinkfinity.org/ Teacher Tubehttp://www1.teachertube.com/

Time for a Review Quiz -http://www.ithaca.edu/library/training/think8.html

Test Yourself Againhttp://www.ithaca.edu/library/training/think.html#quest

Scroll Down to bottom of page and select one to try:

Choice 1 – Mayan CalendarChoice 2 – The SixtiesChoice 3 – Eggs and Cholesterol

Remember -

• Think about what kind of information you need BEFORE YOU START CLICKING.

• Locate the best sources (Use the experts-That includes Mrs. U-she can help you find the best sources)

• Think CRITICALLY about all websites.

Other Bogus Websites

Can you spot the erroneous information? Use your Checklist to guide you through the evaluation process.

• Feline Reactions to Bearded Men• Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanies

Evaluating Web Resources

THE ENDChristine UnangstEdison High School

Librarian

Final Tasks

• Complete your evaluation.• Be certain you have signed the

attendance sheet.• Shut Down your computer and Turn Off

your monitor.• Thanks again for coming.

Education

Website Evaluation