Web Dropin 3: Evaluating Websites

(starting with those that teach about this topic)

Ashley S. Moss-Pham

Introduction One of the most important research skills you can gain is the ability to evaluate the quality of your sources. This skill is even more necessary for those sources that you locate online since anyone can put anything on the World Wide Web at any time. Unlike print resources which have at least gone through some screening process before they reach you, online resources do not come pre-screened. This activity will teach you to ask and answer the essential questions about credibility that you need to ask yourself about each online resource you consider using. It will also teach you to evaluate the quality of a website based on its user-friendliness and overall design by asking you to evaluate the websites we will be visiting on the topic of website evaluation.

Reading Read the information about evaluating websites contained in the websites below, paying attention not only to the information (i.e., content) each provides, but also to how each website provides it (i.e., how the site is designed).

Websites Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask

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

Finding Information on the Internet: A Tutorial from Berkeley
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html

Tutorial: Evaluating Internet Sources
http://www.lib.purdue.edu/InternetEval/index.html

Although it might be a little difficult to use at first, this tutorial is quite helpful. This tutorial is sponsored by the Purdue University Libraries. It briefly addresses issues of "Accuracy," "Authority," "Objectivity," "Currency," and "Coverage," then asks the user to consider a pair of example sites in each of those categories. Annotation and website suggestion taken from the webpage on Judging Sources from Write Source, Inc.

Evaluating Websites: Overview & Key Ideas

http://gateway.lib.ohio-state.edu/tutor/les1/

How to Evaluate a Web Page
http://lib.colostate.edu/howto/evalweb.html

This Web page is sponsored by the Colorado State University Libraries. It offers useful advice on what to look for when using Internet sources for research. Annotation and website suggestion taken from webpage on Judging Sources from Write Source, Inc.

Activity All of the websites you have visited for this activity are credible sources of information. You can trust that this is so because they have been pre-screened for validity by me, your instructor. What I have not pre-determined for you is their quality based on design. Good design consists mainly of those features which make the site user-friendly (easy to use and to learn from). It is for you to decide which of these sites are “best in show” from a design perspective, and to argue your selection with specific details about the site. You may put your response in narrative, outline, or chart form, whichever you prefer.

Secondly, in standard outline form, list 5-6 main topics (or questions you should consider) when trying to evaluate the credibility of information contained on a given website. The subheadings (A.B.C., etc.) should elaborate on various aspects or fine points of the main topic listed above. Try to select your main topics or questions based on the frequency of their appearance in all of the sites you have visited on this topic. (Points that have been mentioned in every single site you have visited are likely to be most important).