Authors note:  My name is Erik Heinemann.  I have a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and teach the subject on the high school level in Maryland, USA.  In a previous website that I created in November of 2005, I provided some things to look for in evaluating websites for authenticity and use on research projects.  Using the checklist that I have created, I have evaluated two sites and have posted my evaluation here.

 

 

Exemplar websites

 

The first is the website URL http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/~acarpi/NSC/index.htm

 

From the “~acarpi” it is evident that this is a personal page, but it is a page with an individual associated with education from the edu domain.  The purpose of the site is immediately clear in that it is to educate and inform its readers on the procedure of writing and balancing chemical reactions.  The author is a professor at the John Jay University for Criminal Justice in New York. 

A link to his personal information was provided but was not up to date and did not work. 

The site was created in the 1998-1999 school year, but the chemistry information has not changed and is still good for current students.

Links to Periodic tables and simulations for the water formation are present as well as other links if one was to examine the other lessons in the index.  These links provide an interesting, fun and often animated selection of information on the topic in the lesson and are valid and reliable as far as I can tell given my years of education on the subject of chemistry.

After using Google to perform a link search, I found 18 sites that link to this one; one from the John Jay University’s homepage and several from teachers who have used the site and think it is a good site.

The site is presented in a silly, but serious tone and is a GOOD site for the educational purpose of learning about chemical reactions.  It even goes so far as to provide examples for students to practice.

 

The second site was not so good for chemical reactions.  The URL is

http://home.att.net/~lfretzin/notes08.html

 

From the “~lfretzin” it is evident that it is a personal site. The domain is .net, but there is little information that can be ascertained from the URL.  The site provides no links and no information about the author.  The purpose of the site seems to be informational or educational.  No date could be found.  No links are found on the entire page as far as supporting information, sources etc..  When a Google search was performed there were no other sources that could be found that link to this site.

The information is valid from my experience in chemistry, but this site is POORLY linked and poorly supported.  Without the supporting information, the site cannot be authenticated and someone without the background in chemistry would be advised not to use it for that reason; even though the information is valid.

 

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