For Teachers and Students by Nicole Slinger Evaluating Web Sites For Teachers and Students by Nicole Slinger

The Internet One of the downfalls of the Internet is that anyone with the right equipment and a little know how is able to publish a website on it. Therefore, knowledge of strategies for evaluating websites is required when searching the Internet to ensure that reliable and accurate information is located.

Overall Character of the Site Usefulness Is the website useful TO YOU? Is it too basic or advanced? Is the information relevant to the topic you are studying?

Overall Character of the Site Subject Coverage Is the subject covered in great depth? Is there a lot of information presented about the topic? Is every part of the subject covered? (e.g. everything about Shakespeare including his birth, life, death, works, etc) Are only parts of the subject area covered? (e.g. just information about Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth”?)

The Information Covered in the Website Accuracy Is the information presented in this web site accurate? If you are in doubt, check the information with a print book, e.g. an encyclopaedia. Is the web site well written?

The Information Covered in the Website Web Site Author Is the person who wrote and compiled the website an expert? If the person is an expert in his/her field, the information presented is more trustworthy than if the subject is a hobby.

The Information Covered in the Website Sponsoring Institution Is the website trustworthy? Does it belong to a trustworthy organization? (see next slide)

Sponsoring Institution http://www.gu.edu.au - Educational organization http://www.abc.net.au - Network/media http://www.alia.org.au - An organization, usually non-profit http://www.qld.gov.au - Government body http://www.bhp.com.au - Companies, commercial organization – may have a certain bias towards their products. http://www.pcug.org.au/~bpalmer - (~, called a tilde) Personal web page – may be the least trustworthy source of information as it may contain the biased view of individuals. Usually trust- worthy

The Information Covered in the Website Information Currency Is the page up-to-date? Try to find out information about when it was last updated. This is usually found at the bottom of the page.

The Information Covered in the Website Contact information Is there contact information for the web page’s author or organization? This is important if you are in a situation where you need to pursue the author for further information or explanations of the information in the web site. You will also need to consult the author if you wish to exceed copyright – 10% of publication.

The Information Covered in the Website Hyperlinks to Other Information Resources If links are provided to other pages, do they work? Are the links to other pages relevant to the subject you are researching?

Search or Browse Function User Friendliness Search or Browse Function Is there a function for browsing or searching the web site? Sometimes web sites have a search box on their home page. Does this function work effectively?

User Friendliness Site Map Is there a site map available?

AN EXAMPLE

User Friendliness Menu and Screen Design Are the menus and screens easy to read and follow? Are you able to find the section you need by reading menus or other information contained in the screen?

The Appearance of the Web site Overall Appearance Colours and Graphics Is the web site good to look at? Are the colours used well? Are the graphics used effectively?

The Appearance of the Web site Design and Layout Multimedia Is the web site cluttered? If frames are used, do they help you use the website? If multimedia is used, does it add to the appearance of the web site?

Locating the Web Site Software Requirements Access to the Web Site Locating the Web Site Software Requirements Was the web site easy to find using the search tools? Was there specialised software needed to view documents?

Access to the Web Site Opening the Web Site Was the web site easy to open? When you tried to open the web site, there were no problems - no server error or address error occurred and the web site was quick to download.

Copyright Issues Are you aware of the copyright implications of using the information contained in this website?