Evaluating Websites

 

 

     This site is designed to help students evaluate the information found on websites.  There is so much information you can find on the Web.  How do you know what is real and what is fake?  Use the guide below to aid you in evaluating a website. There are questions listed that you may ask yourself when you are evaluating the contents of a website.  These may help you to validate or invalidate the information presented on the site.  Hopefully it will help you to weed out some of the poor websites with false information that you may come across during your research.

 

 

1.       What Can You Learn From the URL?   

 

The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the unique address of any Web document.  There is a specific layout to every URL:

 

Type of file (could say ftp:// or telnet://)

Domain name (computer file is on and its location on the Internet)

Path or directory on the computer to this file

Name of file, and its file extension (usually ending in .html or .htm)

http://

www.mcdaniel.edu or www2.mcdaniel.edu

webapps/portal/

glossary.html

 

 

Questions to ask:

 

Is it somebody’s personal page?

§         Look for a personal name (jsmith or jones) followed by a ~ or %

§         Look for the word “users” or “members” or “people”

 

Does it have an appropriate domain?

§         Look for edu., gov., org. or com.

§         Does the domain make sense for what you are searching for?

 

 

 

2. Search for Indicators of Quality.

 

Look for “links”, “additional sites”, “related links” and footnotes.  Explore these links to see if they work and are reputable. See if the links lead to any documentation or other resources, such as journal articles or bibliographies.

 

Questions to ask:

 

          Are there links to other resources on the topic?

§         Do the links work?

§         Are they well chosen, well organized, and/or evaluated?

§         Do they represent other viewpoints?

 

If information is from another source, is it completely unaltered and authentic or forged?

§         Is information retyped and easily altered?

§         Is it reproduced from another publication?

§         Are copyright information provided?

§         Is there a link to the original work?

 

         

 

3. Who Wrote the Page?

 

It is important to find out who the author is.  You are looking for someone who claims accountability and responsibility for what is written.  The web page was written with a purpose by a person, agency or entity.

 

          Questions to ask:

 

         Who is the author?

§         Look for the name, agency, organization, institution or whoever is responsible for the page.

§         Look for an email address to politely ask for more information.

 

    Is the page dated and current enough?   

§         Is it old information on a time-sensitive, currently evolving topic?

§         Has the author maintained interest in the page or has it been abandoned?

§         When was the site created and how long has it been since it has been updated?

 

 

 

4.  Who is the site for?

 

Authors usually try to target a specific target audience.  Make sure the site contents are suitable for your reading comprehension level.  Many websites are geared toward the highly educated adult. 

 

Questions to ask:

 

    Who is the target audience of this site?

§         Is the content too difficult to understand?

§         Are there too many words I do not recognize?

 

          Is the content appropriate for my needs?

§         Does the content contain too general or too specific information?

§         Is the site kid-friendly and written in a manner I can understand?

 

 

5.  What Do Others Say?

 

Try to find out what others think about the author and contents of this site by doing a link search.  Copy (highlight and Control + C) the URL of the website in question.  Simply go to Google or Yahoo!  Then type link: in the search field.  Paste the URL immediately after the colon (no space in between).  Then a list of all the websites containing a link to that site will be shown.  You may also “google” the author’s name in a search engine.

 

Questions to ask:

 

    Who links to the page?

§         Are there many links?

§         What kinds of sites are they?

§         What do they say?

 

Is the page listed in one or more reputable directories?

§         What do the directories say?

§         Does it coincide with the information on the website?

 

 

 

6.  Does Everything Add Up?

 

After reviewing all the information about the website, think about the author’s intentions and why the site was created.  It is usually best to follow your gut reaction.  If you have any doubts, ask your teacher for advice.  Always consider that you could be reading a total spoof, fake or fraudulent creation.  Think about other resources that may be a better source for information on what you are researching.

 

Questions to ask:

 

    Why was this website posted?

§         Give information, facts, or data?

§         Persuade or entice?

§         Sell a product or idea?

§         Disclose information?

§         Share?

 

Might it be ironic, a satire or parody?

§         Consider the “tone” of the page.

§         Is it humorous, exaggerated or contain overblown arguments?

§         Does it have outrageous graphics or photographs?

         

Is this as good a source as you could find at the library?

    Are you being completely fair and objective?

          Are your hopes overshadowing your interpretation of the site?

          What are the requirements from your teacher for reliability of sources?