1. URL

2. Author

3. Content

4. Currency

5.Stability

6. General Style



















































































 

 

 


©CAMPBELL 1998.06.10

This checklist may be used with proper reference to the author. Notification of its use would be appreciated.

Last updated: 2001.03.12
webmaster


WEB SITE EVALUATION CHECKLIST

1. Web site address or URL

Is the site affiliated with a reputable institution or organization (i.e. university or government site)?

OR

Does it link you to other sites affiliated with reputable institutions?
Do other authoritative sites link to it?

Beware of commercial sites with lots of advertisements.

Is there a tilde (~) in the Web site address? Most Web servers use the tilde symbol (~) to represent the personal directories of individuals. This is not necessarily bad - the person may well be affiliated with a university. Check for links to the department's home page where you should be able to find the author's bio, qualifications, etc.

Pros:

Cons:

2. Author

Who is the author? Who has published it on the Internet? How reputable are the author and publisher? Can cross checks be made to verify this information? Look for a biography indicating the author's qualifications and contact information (address, phone number, e-mail address which supports the claim of authorship).

Is the person well known in the field? Even if the person is not well known in the field, does s/he cite other reputable sources in the document? (i.e. Is there a good bibliography so that this author/research can be investigated further?) Is s/he linked or mentioned in a positive fashion by a reliable authority that you do know?

Pros:

Cons:

3. Content

Validity: Has the information already been filtered by a third party? (e.g. some online journals are peer reviewed)
Is the resource available in another format? (Use additional sources to confirm what you have found, e.g. a book or CD-ROM.)
Is the information well researched? (look for references and bibliographies)

Bias: Is there a particular bias to the site? If so, has it been made clear? Is it acceptable?

Is there a statement about the source of the information, or the aims and objectives of the site?
Is there a fee for use or is it part of an official academic or scholarly site?
Is there financial support or commercial sponsorship? (i.e. advertising)

Uniqueness: Is there some primary information on the site that can't be found elsewhere (online or otherwise)?
If there are links to external sites, has some value been added, such as annotations?

Completeness: Is is an excerpt from a larger work or does it purport to be comprehensive?
Is it a book or online journal containing only the contents page and abstracts?
Are there links that are not yet active?
Are there pages still under construction?

Pros:

Cons:

4. Currency

Is it a recent document? (Look for creation dates and/or last updated/modified dates.)
Is this important for my research?  If it is, is the site updated regularly?  (Look for a statement about the frequency of the updates.)

Pros:

Cons:

5. Stability

Has the site moved recently or has it proven to be durable in nature?
Are there broken links?
Is there an e-mail contact address for the webmaster?

Pros:

Cons:

6. General Style

Is this site free of grammatical, spelling and typographical errors? (Indicates lack of proof readers and editors.)
Does it have a site map?  (Makes it easier to find your way around.)  Is it slow to load?
Are the references documented in the style normally used in that discipline?
e.g. MLA (Modern Language Association), APA (American Psychological Association), Chicago Style, CSE (Council of Science Editors)

Pros:

Cons:

CHECKLIST REFERENCES

Kirk, E. (1996). Evaluating Information Found on the Internet. Baltimore, MD: Milton S. Eisenhower Library, Johns Hopkins University.  Retrieved June 9, 1998, from the World Wide Web:  http://milton.mse.jhu.edu:8001/research/education/net.html.

Place, E., Hiom, D. & Peereboom, M. (1999, July). Internet Detective (2nd ed.). DESIRE Project. Retrieved August 10, 1999, from the World Wide Web:  http://www.sosig.ac.uk/desire/internet-detective.html.