Web site evaluation

WEB S

ITE E

VALU

ATIO

N

WH

AT

TO

LO

OK

FO

R O

N W

EB

SI T

ES

WHAT TO LOOK FOR ON WEB SITES

• Authority• Who is the author, owner? Individual? Corporation? Government?• First check the domain (.gov, .edu, .com, etc.)

• Currency• When last updated?

• Accuracy• Where do they get their information? Citations, sources, reports?

• Coverage• How in-depth? • Point of view? Biased?

• Purpose• To educate? Inform? Persuade? Entertain? Sell?

• Intended Audience• Who is the publisher? • General population or age level?• Specialists in the field, academics?• Vocabulary specific to topic and assumes prior knowledge?

2

UNITED STATES GLOBAL CHANGE RESEARCH PROGRAM

HTTP://WWW.GLOBALCHANGE.GOV/

3

LOOK FOR CONTACT INFO FOR AUTHORITY

4

LOOK FOR PUBLISHER, INTENDED AUDIENCE

5

LOOK FOR OVERVIEW, MISSION, VISION

6

LOOK FOR PURPOSE. PROGRAMS? SERVICES?

7

LOOK FOR AFFILIATIONS

8

LOOK FOR OTHER RESOURCES

9