1.
Content specialist:
- Does the site cover
the topic comprehensively? Accurately?
- Can you understand
what is being said? Is it written above or below
your level of understanding?
- What is unique about
this site? Does it offer something others do not?
- Are the links
well-chosen? sufficient?
- Currency: Can you
tell: the date the information was created? the
publication date? the date the material was last
revised? Are these dates meaningful in terms of
the subject matter?
- Would you get better
information in a book? an encyclopedia?
- Would you include
this site in your bibliography?
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2. Authority/Credibility specialist:
- Who is responsible
for this site? Who sponsors it? Hint: truncate
each section of the URL back until you are able
to find the sponsor.
- What are his/her
credentials?
- Have the authors of
the site cited their own sources? Are the sources
documented appropriately?
- What is the domain
name? Does it end in .com, .gov, .edu, .org,
.net? Is it a personal page?
- Is that a meaningful
clue in evaluating the site? (You can't always
judge a web page by its suffix. Some commercial
sites provide solid information. Some university
sites offer less-than-serious personal pages to
graduate students.)
- Who else links to the
site? (You can perform a link check in
AltaVista or Google by entering
"link:webaddress" in the search box. Is
it linked to by reliable sites? What do other
sites say about this one?
- Would you include
this site in your bibliography?
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3.
Bias/purpose specialist:
- Why was this site
created? (to persuade, inform, explain, sell,
promote, parody, other?)
- Is it a personal,
commercial, government or organization site?
- Is there any bias? Is
only one side of the argument presented? Does it
appear that any information is purposely omitted?
Is there a hidden message? Is it trying to
persuade you or change your opinion? Is the bias
useful to you in some way?
- Can you distinguish
facts from opinion?
- Would you include
this site in your bibliography?
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4.
Usability/design specialist
- Is the site easy to
navigate (user-friendly)?
- Is there a
well-labeled contents area?
- Do all the design
elements (graphics, art, buttons, etc.) enhance
the message of the site? Is there consistency in
the basic formats of each page?
- Are there any errors
in spelling or grammar?
- Do the pages appear
clean, uncluttered?
- Do the links on the
site work?
- Would you include
this site in your bibliography?
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