Evaluating Web Sites: Criteria and Tools

Evaluating Web Sites: Criteria and Tools

[ Context ] ~ [ Evaluation Criteria ] ~ [ Web Reviews and Rankings ] ~ [ Webliography ]

Context: The Primary Factor

The User Context: The most important factor when evaluating Web sites is your search, your needs. What are you using the Web for? Entertainment? Academic work? Hobbies or avocational interests? Scholarly sources are traditionally very strongly text-based. Compare the appearance and the content of an academic journal with a popular magazine.

The Web Context: Some of the visual distinctions that signal the nature of content in print sources hold true on the Web as well, although, because the Web encourages wider use of graphics, Web versions of printed works usually contain more graphics and more color than their print counterparts. Color graphics appeared on the New York Times Web site before they appeared in the printed New York Times, for instance.

Compare the Web versions of Child Abuse and Neglect (Princeton only), Mississippi Review (free to the public), The New York Times, U. S. News, and the National Enquirer.

Evaluation Criteria

--- Same as Print?: Critically Analyzing Information Sources

--- Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Pages (Jim Kapoun):

Accuracy
Authority
Currency
Objectivity
Coverage

To evaluate Web sites go to this table of criteria and questions to ask when judging the reliability of information on the Web.

--- Generic Criteria for Evaluation (Hope Tillman):

Stated criteria for inclusion of information
Authority of author or creator
Comparability with related sources
Stability of information
Appropriateness of format
Software/hardware/multimedia requirements

--- Criteria for the Evaluation of Internet Information Resources [Victoria Univ., NZ]

--- ICYouSee: T is for Thinking [Ithaca College]

Finding the Best Sites: Web Reviews and Rankings

The Argus Clearinghouse

Selection by Yahoo : Yahoo's Home Page and Yahoo's Magazines section

Selection by librarians:

Librarians' Index to the Internet [UC Berkeley]

Internet Reference Resources [Cornell University]

Webliography

Alexander, Janet E. and Marsha A. Tate. Evaluating Web Resources [see "Original Evaluation Checklists" links]. (Widener University, PA; 25 July 2001)

Henderson, John R. The ICYouSee Critical Thinking Guide. (Ithaca College, NY; 4 September 2001)

Kapoun, Jim. "Teaching Undergrads WEB Evaluation: A Guide for Library Instruction." C&RL News (July/August 1998): 522-523.

Smith, Alastair. Criteria for Evaluation of Internet Information Resources. (Victoria University of Wellington, NZ; 2 March 1997)

Tillman, Hope. Evaluating Quality on the Net. (Babson College, MA; 19 March 2001)

Library Research at Princeton

Wayne Bivens-Tatum
Gen. & Humanities Reference Librarian

Original source: Instruction, Research, and Information Services (IRIS); Cornell University Library. Modified for Princeton Library use. Used with permission.