Website Evaluation – adapted from net.TUTOR @ Ohio State University

Your job is to DETERMINE: 

PAC-bccr

Purpose - inform, persuade (advocate for a cause) or sell (commercial).


         About this site
  About us
   Site index
  Site map

           
Determine the purpose for these websites by clicking on them:  
sell, inform, persuade?

                                                Bookspot      -    ________________________

                                                Princeton Review   -    ____________________
Author – person or organization responsible for c
Things to ask:

§  Is organization reputable?

§  Does author have appropriate education, training, and/or experience?

Things to look at:        

          §  c  copyright symbol

§  ~  in url for

                                               §  Site documents, linked biographies, resumes

           

Who is the author of these web sites?

                                    Eye on DNA  - ___________________________________

                                    Victorian Web  - __________________________________

           

Content - What type of information is it? 

1) Bias

For controversial topics:   Balanced (both pts. of view)? or Biased (one-sided)?

Are the claims:  Supported (w/documentation & evidence)? or Unproven?

                                    Angel on Death Row - ________________________________

     Supported?____________

or
       Unproven?____________

                                  Death Penalty Focus - ________________________________

      Supported ?____________

or
     Unproven?____________

                       

 

2) Coverage – how well it covers the topic & do other sites cover this topic

         

                   Look for: Other sites on the same topic that you can quickly browse and compare to

                                           yours. This is also a good way to evaluate controversial claims.

How to Locate Similar Sites

You can locate similar sites easily using Google.

In the search box, type:

 

related:[URL of known site]
Example: related:www.deathpenalty.org

             

3) Currency – when?

         

          Things to look for: 

§  Page creation or revision dates.

§  "What's New" page that describes when content was updated.

§  Press releases or other dated materials.

4) Recognition – Do others recognize the value of its contents?

 Things to look for: 

§  Links from other sites- Google – link:[URL of site]

§  Tags for this site – del.icio.us—look how many bookmarks

§  Reader’s comments – Technorati—blogger’s  name or name of blog-

      # of blogs linking to website

§  Citations of articles by other researchers:    example using Google.—type in title of article ………..Google Scholar – look for….Cited by….

                                                                                                                       

                                                                                                                         

            How many sites are linked to these sites?   
Google Advanced Search

                

            Ipl2 -- www.ipl.org - _____________

Go Ask Alice – www.goaskalice.columbia.edu  - _________ 

 

****Homework:   1) watch this video on Understanding Google Search Results