How to Evaluate Web Sites

The following are a series of ideas and actions which can be implemented to find, review and select quality resources from the Internet. This series of items is based on the notion that determining quality of information resources is not algorithmic, i.e., a matter of applying a few simple rules in some sequential order. Rather this set of ideas and actions is a tool kit to be used in the process of assessment. You may need to use all of them or one or two may be sufficient. Or in the worst case they are insufficient to the challenge. If you are in this predicament consult with a librarian or a professor who may be able to help.

Prepared by Tom Kirk. If you have questions please contact me at x1360 or via e-mail.

Background

An important aspect of assessment is to recognize the Internet for what it is and what that means about quality of resources found there. The Internet can best be thought of as a collection of well organized libraries, filing cabinets, shoe boxes and other storage devices that contain the personal and organizational documents which are used in everyday life. The documents include letters, brochures, print publications in digital form, notes, etc. Frankly, the Internet presents every form of written, oral and visual communication that has been committed to a digital format. Furthermore many of the filing cabinets, shoe boxes, etc. are not well organized nor have they been weeded of old copies and superseded versions of documents.

The Internet is noted for its interconnectedness. Because of this interconnectedness it is often difficult to tell when you have moved from one site to another. This can confound the evaluation process. It is therefore essential to understand Internet addresses and how to interpret them. The address can take one of two forms:

  • Standard United States address: http://www.earlham.edu/~libr
  • Standard International address: http://www.rcs.k12.in.us/baxter.html

The first address is a typical United States address. The second is the international form and is used around the world, including here in the United States.

The "http://" indicates to your browser the form of the information. The http:// is so frequently the form of Internet information that it is the default in browsers and usually doesn't have to be entered. However it is important within documents and it, or its equivalent, should always be included in a bibliographic citation for an Internet site.

The "www.earlham.edu or www.rcs.k12.in.us" is the second part of the address and is known as the domain name. You can think of it as the location. A good metaphor is that of a postal address, e.g., 541 Kensington Drive, Richmond, Indiana.

For United States addresses the three or more character code at the end of the domain name (i.e., domain name suffix) is useful. The codes are as follows:

  • aero .... air-transport industry. (e.g., http://www.eae.aero/)
  • biz .... businesses. An added suffix that overlaps with .com and other specialized suffixes. (e.g, http://www.allsafetyproducts.biz)
  • com .... commercial or business enterprise. (e.g., www.ibm.com)
  • coop .... cooperatives. An added suffix that overlaps with .org. (e.g., http://www.fmcs.coop)
  • edu .... educational institution. (e.g., www.earlham.edu)
  • firm .... firm. A business. A new suffix added long after .com has been in use. (e.g., http://www.legal.firm)
  • gov .... governmental body. (e.g., www.epa.gov)
  • info .... information. Unrestricted. May be used by any type of organization or person.(e.g., http://www.environmentalsustainability.info)
  • int .... international. A top-level domain name used for international institutions. (e.g., http://www.itu.int )
  • mil .... military organization. (e.g., www.cvn72.navy.mil)
  • museum .... museum. (e.g., http://airventure.air.museum/)
  • name .... name. (e.g., http://grant.henninger.name)
  • nato .... nato. A top-level domain name used for NATO sites.
  • net .... network organization. These are organizations, generally not-for-profit, that provide networking services. (e.g., www.incolsa.net)
  • org .... organization. This is a catchall category for types of organizations that don't fit any of the other categories. Typically it includes not-for-profit organizations that are not governmental units or educational institutions. (e.g., redcross.org)
  • pro .... professionals. Accountants, lawyers and physicians.
  • store .... store. An ending of an address for an Internet site that is for a retail business. (e.g., http://www.variety.store)

For the International standard the suffix of the domain name indicates the country of origin (de = Denmark) and for the United States the state of origin (in=Indiana).

The third part of an address, following the slash (http://www.earlham.edu/~libr), is the subdirectory and/or name of the actual document. Each slash moves down in a hierarchy. Addresses can get quiet long if a document is located in a deeply buried subdirectory. Here is an example:

  • http://www.earlham.edu/EC_syllabi/syllabi_99/art_12_99.html

The document "art_12_99.html," at the end of the address, is located in the folder syllabi_99, which is in the folder EC_syllabi, at the domain www.earlham.edu which is an html page (http://).

Ideas and Activities for Selecting
Quality Web Resources

As you apply the characteristics or ideas below take a skeptical position that a site must prove its worthiness. If it doesn't demonstrate the appropriate characteristics reject it! There is too much duplication of information to assume that any one Internet page is so important that, despite its failure to meet the criteria, it is still essential to your information need. Use the points below to help ensure the quality of your resources.

Ultimately, however, the evidence of quality is internal to the document and depends on your knowledge of the subject. Therefore it is essential that information important to the development of an idea or concept be consistent with information from other sources, print or electronic. This may require actual verification of details in other sources. More often it is simply a matter of answering affirmatively that the information fits logically with other information you have read.

  • Selection. Use selected lists prepared by libraries, museums, and other institutions whose business it is to select materials for clients or patrons. An example is the University of California Library System's InfoMine. Use widely-known sites by going directly to them (e.g., cbs.com, npr.org, www.un.org)
  • Purpose. Note the hosting or owning institution and the implications about purpose that derives from that ownership. We can, as a first approximation, assume that sites with edu are for educational and scholarly purposes, while com means a money making enterprise. The Widener College Library suggests using the following questions to help determine the purpose of the Internet resource.
    Is the purpose of the page to advocate a cause or an idea?
    • Is the page intended to sell or market products or services?
    • Is the page intended to provide news?
    • Is the page intended to provide information?
    • Is the page the personal page of an individual?
  • Currency. Is currency a critical factor in the accuracy and quality of the information you need? Is this resource new enough to meet that currency requirement? Unfortunately while many resources have dates it is not a standard. Always check the very bottom of the page for a copyright date.
  • Reviewed. Is it an electronic form of a published work? What is the reputation of the journal, publisher or organization responsible for its print publication? Has the site received an award for its quality?
  • Authority. Who is the author? What are her/his credentials for creating the Internet resource? If the information is not available on the page or can not be deduced by following links or examining the main page of the site then it is necessary to use alternative means to identify the author's credentials. While all the factors discussed here are important this is the most critical. A user should be very diligent in identifying the qualifications of the author.
  • Artifacts of quality. Does the site include any of the following: bibliography, links to other sites supporting the content, or charts, graphs and illustrations? While superficial in nature, the presence of such artifacts is often indicative of a more substantial, thorough and ultimately higher quality resource.

More about Web Evaluation

Evaluating Information Found on the Internet
Written by Elizabeth Kirk, Johns Hopkins University.

Evaluating Web Sites
Written by librarians for Ohio State University.