Julia Burke

SLM-521

Assignment: Evaluating Websites—Elective #2

June 17, 2009

 

     When using the internet as a source of information it is imperative for students to have a clear set of criteria for evaluating the websites they are consulting. After determining their research topic and conducting searches on the internet, the following set of questions provides a guide for students to determine the value of the sites they have found and whether or not said sites are germane to their assignment.

 

Question One: What information does the web address, or URL, give us?

     --What is the domain name?

     --What can the domain name (especially the top level domain name—i.e., .com,

        .edu, .net, etc.) tell you about the source of the information?

 

Question Two: Who is the author of this website?

     --What is the authorÕs background—their credentials?

     --How difficult was it to find this information?

 

Question Three: How current is the information on this site?

     --When was the website last updated?

 

Question Four: What other sources of information are referenced by this site?

     --What are some links provided on this site?

     --Are these links active?

     --Are these links reliable? (Apply criteria from this list)

     --How difficult is it to access the sources of the information found on this site?

 

Question Five: What is the purpose of this site?

     --Is this site: commercial, educational, informational, recreational, etc.?

     --Is there an agenda and/or bias? If so, is it clearly stated?

     --Does it provide access to alternative viewpoints?

     --Who is the target audience for this site?

 

Question Six: How difficult is it to navigate this site?

     --Is the site well organized?

     --Is there a clear table of contents or menu?

     --Are there instructions on how to use the site?

 

Question Seven: Is the site useful for your purpose?

     --Does the site address the question you are asking?

     --Does it have adequate information for your purpose?

     --Does it provide useful links to other sites if you need more information than it

        can provide?

     --Is the information content appropriate?

     --Are all links provided appropriate?

 

Question Eight: Does this site provide a forum for evaluation of its services?

     --Does the site provide access to positive and negative feedback?

     --Are any testimonials provided searchable?

  

 

 

 

Example of Website Evaluation Utilizing the Criteria Provided Above:

 

Topic: The Theory of Evolution

 

Websites:

1.     www.evolution.berkely.edu

2.     http://theoryofevolution.net

 

 

Website #1

 

Question One: What information does the URL give us?

     --The address of this site is: www.evolution.berkeley.edu

    --The top level domain name is .edu which tells me that the site is educational,

          and is used for sites of accredited post secondary institutions.

          (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_top-level_domains)

     --I also went to the University of California, Berkeley website and I was able locate links to this site.

 

Question Two: Who is the author of this website?

     --By clicking on the ÒCreditsÓ link on the home page, I was provided with the credentials of those responsible for the management of the site, as well as specific information concerning funding for the site (i.e. grant numbers, etc.)

     --This information was easily accessible.

 

Question Three: How current is the information on this site?

     --The copyright date is 2009.

 

Question Four: What other sources of information are referenced by this site?

     --There is a plethora of active and reliable links provided by this site including such links as CNN, the National Center for Science Education, among other academic and mainstream media links.

     --Sources of the information found on this site were easily accessible.

 

Question Five: What is the purpose of this site?

     --The purpose of this site is educational, informational, and non-commercial which is clearly presented when one clicks on the ÒAboutÓ link on the home page.

     --Alternative viewpoints (i.e. Òintelligent design vs. evolutionÓ debates) are openly addressed with links to additional sources provided.

     --The target audience for this site is primarily educators and students but also encourages exploration and research by the general public.

 

Question Six: How difficult is it to navigate this site?

     --The site is well organized with a clear table of contents as well as an engaging presentation of material.

 

Question Seven: Is the site useful for your purpose?

     --This site more than fulfills the informational requirements of the topic ÒThe Theory of EvolutionÓ—from its history to current research as well as controversies surrounding this topic, past and present.

     --The content of this site is appropriate as was the content of the few links explored.

 

Question Eight: Does this site provide a forum for evaluation of its services?

     --In addition to providing access to documentation of the independent evaluation process undergone by the site, this website also provides a forum for user feedback.

 

Overall, this website meets the criteria as a valuable online source for researching the topic of Ò the theory of evolution.Ó

 

 

 

Website #2

 

 

Question One: What information does the URL give us?

     --The address of this site is: http://theoryofevolution.net

     --The top level domain name, .net, is open to anyone therefore we do not have an initial indication of reliability.

 

Question Two: Who is the author of this website?

     --This information is not readily accessible on this site. The focus of the site is a book, The Origin of Life and Intelligent Design Theory, and when one clicks on the Amazon.com link to purchase this book the authorÕs name (Stuart W. Pullen) is provided.

 

Question Three: How current is the information on this site?

     --The copyright date given is 2005.

 

Question Four: What other sources of information are referenced by this site?

     --There do not seem to be any readily accessible links to outside sources of information—other than Amazon.com.

 

Question Five: What is the purpose of this site?

     --The purpose of this site seems to be the promotion of the idea of intelligent design as a counterargument to DarwinÕs theory of evolution as well as the commercial promotion of the book featured on the site.

 

Question Six: How difficult is it to navigate this site?

     --Due to the fact that the site was a rather insular exploration of a book promoting the theory of intelligent design, navigation was simple.

 

Question Seven: Is the site useful for your purpose?

      --Although the content of this site was not inappropriate, the information contained in the site was more of a polemic rather than a straightforward presentation of facts.

 

Question Eight: Does this site provide a forum for evaluation of its services?

     --Aside from a link to a blog focusing on intelligent design, it does not provide such a forum on the site.

 

Overall, the narrow focus of promoting a specific agenda as well as a lack of supporting sources makes this site inadequate for the scope of the topic.  

 

 

 

 

Source Materials

 

Beck, Susan, E. (February 6, 2002, last updated April 27, 2009). The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. June 17, 2009, from http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/eval.html.

 

Tillman, Hope N. (3/2003). Evaluating Quality on the Net. Retrieved on June 17, 2009, from http://www.hopetillman.com/findqual.html#1.

 

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html

 

http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/web_classes/

 

  www.evolution.berkeley.edu

 

   http://theoryofevolution.net