Submitted by Tina L. Thomen

SLM 521: Telecommunications & The Internet

Fall 2005 (9/28/05) ~ Elective #2

Evaluating Websites Checklist

Student’s Name: Date of Evaluation:

Name of Website #1 Name of Website #2

Questions to Ask:

1. Who created this site?

List name of person

or organization.

ü Is this a personal page or site (look for ~ or %, or users, members, or people)

ü List the type of domain

(com, org/net, edu, gov/mil/us, non-US, other)

ü What expertise do the author(s) offer to the content of the site?

2. How well does this site provide quality information?

ü Is the site biased or focused on one ideology?

ü Does the site offer diverse perspectives on relevant topics?

ü Does the site thoroughly explore its topic?

ü Does this site offer further exploration, or suggested readings, for related topics? Give one example.

ü Are links annotated and helpful?

ü Are there many advertisements?

3. How effectively do you interact/learn with this site?

ü Are the navigational designs user-friendly? Why or why not?

ü Are the graphics engaging or distracting? How so?

ü How do you rate the writing style for understandability? (Excellent, Good, Fair, or Poor)

ü Does the site offer other interactive elements such as sound effects or animation?

4. What audience is intended for this site?

ü Is this site age-appropriate for you right now?

ü Does this website offer broad appeal for diverse backgrounds and perspectives?

5. How current is this site?

ü When was this site last updated?

ü Do most of the links still work?

6. What do others think about this site?

ü Go to www.alexa.com. What is this site’s traffic rank? How many viewers?

ü What do the reviews say at www.alexa.com?

ü Go to www.lii.org. Copy & paste each URL in the search field. Did you find this site in www.lii.org?

7. Would you recommend this site to someone who needed to research this topic (poetry)?

ü Based on your personal reaction, list this site’s primary strength.

ü Based on your personal reaction, list this site’s primary weakness.

Evaluating Websites Checklist (Completed Sample)

Student’s Name: Tina Thomen Date of Evaluation: 9/28/05

Name of Website #1 Name of Website #2

Questions to Ask:

www.poets.org

http://poetry.wholesome balance.com/

1. Who created this site? List name of person or organization.	The Academy of American Poets, non-profit that supports poets and promotes appreciation for poetry, around since 1934	Created by Craig Nicholson, a former pilot and inspirational speaker who began site in 2000.
ü Is this a personal page or site (look for ~ or %, or users, members, or people)	Not a personal site	Yes, all poems and content maintained by Craig Nicholson.
ü List the type of domain (com, org/net, edu, gov/mil/us, non-US, other)	.org – a non-profit organization.	.com – copyright by Craig Nicholson, 2000-2005
ü What expertise do the author(s) offer to the content of the site?	Overseen by a Board of Directors. Bios of 14 staff members provided in “About Us.” section. Experiences of staff include Bachelors & Masters degrees in English/Poetry/Writing. Several served for other non-profits and had own writings published. Many taught at college level.	Nicholson has been a commercial pilot after resigning from the Air Force. He graduated high school in 1975, with no college education or teaching experience. His only published writings appear on this website. His hobbies are photography and spirituality.
2. How well does this site provide quality information?
ü Is the site biased or focused on one ideology?	No, several poetic schools of thoughts (31 movements) are represented, including multicultural selections of the Harlem Renaissance, Black Mountain, Slam, Kanaka Maoli and Beat poetry. Classic selections are included too representing the Romantics and Modernism.	Yes, Nicholson founded the teachings of the Ascended Masters in 1981 and the poetry focuses on this spiritual ideology.
ü Does the site offer diverse perspectives on relevant topics?	The site provides 31 different poetry debates by 31 young writers and visitors to the site can write Letters to the Editor or create their own essays.	No – just one author contributes. He does address everything from poetry to spirituality to geometry.
ü Does the site thoroughly explore its topic?	Yes, by offering info on poets, the movements, actual poems (many examples from each poet), literary criticism and resources for both educators and students. Site is devoted to poetry.	In Nicholson quest for balance, he strays between poetry and geometry, without having any expertise to justify the information. His poetry represents only his views on a few topics.
ü Does this site offer further exploration, or suggested readings, for related topics? Give one example.	Yes, it suggests various anthologies and online resources such as Poetry Slam, Inc and a Glossary of Poetic Terms. The further readings and links range from academic to creative.	Yes, Nicholson provides many links to ideological sites that support his views about macrobiotics and reincarnation.
ü Are links annotated and helpful?	Yes	Yes
ü Are there many advertisements?	No –one text box on home page for the poetry.org store.	Not too many – 4 ads by google are in main left-hand margin.
3. How effectively do you interact/learn with this site?
ü Are the navigational designs user-friendly? Why or why not?	Yes, 6 main tabs align top of screen; from any page you can search by poet or title; within each page, site offers related poems and topics on left-hand margin.	Yes, left-hand margin contains all topics and remain there as you enter other pages.
ü Are the graphics engaging or distracting? How so?	Engaging, I like the many pictures about the poets. For example, for each decade of Whitman’s life, we can see how he transformed. We see a photo of Allen Ginsberg when he wrote “Howl” and later in his life.	Not distracting but not that engaging. Graphics only appear at top of each page, either as a photo that I do enjoy or as tacky clipart.
ü How do you rate the writing style for understandability? (Excellent, Good, Fair, or Poor)	Excellent, Brief & concise. Each poetic movement is described in about 3 detailed paragraphs, rather than in long dialogues.	Fair – the multiple uses of exclamation points (and parantheses) are tiresome and unprofessional!!!!! But understandability is fine.
ü Does the site offer other interactive elements such as sound effects or animation?	This site offers a “Listening Booth” where you can hear over 150 poems spoken, usually by the poets themselves. Poetry is meant to be heard as well as read.	I couldn’t find any.
4. What audience is intended for this site?
ü Is this site age-appropriate for you right now?	Yes.	Yes, as long as I realize that this site does offer a specific point of view.
ü Does this website offer broad appeal for diverse backgrounds and perspectives?	Yes, see above for explanations about all the diverse poetic movements from all over the world. The debates are open to anyone.	No, only Craig Nicholson contributes to this site. Some of his links address only one-sided perspectives on various issues.
5. How current is this site?
ü When was this site last updated?	2005	2005
ü Do most of the links still work?	Yes	About 50/50
6. What do others think about this site?
ü Go to www.alexa.com. What is this site’s traffic rank? How many viewers?	Rank: 55,199 Viewers: 23.5 million/week	Rank: 1,289,744 Viewers: .45 million/week
ü What do the reviews say at www.alexa.com?	No reviews provided	No reviews provided
ü Go to www.lii.org. Copy & paste each URL in the search field. Did you find this site in www.lii.org?	Yes	No
7. Would you recommend this site to someone who needed to research this topic (poetry)?	Yes	No
ü Based on your personal reaction, list this site’s primary strength.	Variety- online texts & audio	Easy to understand - visually & navigationally
ü Based on your personal reaction, list this site’s primary weakness.	Sometimes loads slowly	Ideologically unbalanced (despite it’s primary goal about seeking wholesome balance in life)