(This form may be printed out and used to evaluate the authority of a research web site)
Name:
Web site title:
URL:
Bibliographic citation: (Author's name/Title/Date of Publication/URL)
|
AUTHORITY
|
YES
|
NO
|
| 1. Is it clear who is responsible for the contents of this page? |
|
|
| 2. Is there a link to a page describing the purpose of the sponsoring organization? |
|
|
3. Is there a way of verifying the legitimacy of the page's sponsor?
(Phone number or postal address to contact for more information? |
|
|
| 4. Are the author's qualifications for writing on this topic clearly stated? |
|
|
| 5. If the material is protected by copyright, is the name of the copyright holder given? |
|
|
|
ACCURACY
|
YES
|
NO
|
| 1. Are the sources for any factual information clearly listed so they can be verified in another source? |
|
|
| 2. Is the information free of grammatical, spelling and other typographical errors? |
|
|
| 3. If there are charts and/or graphs containing statistical data, are they clearly labeled and easy to read? |
|
|
|
OBJECTIVITY
|
YES
|
NO
|
1. Is the purpose of the document clearly stated?
(To inform/explain; to persuade/advocate a position; to sell) |
|
|
| 2. Does the document reflect a particular bias in viewpoint? |
|
|
| 3. Does the author distinguish fact from opinions? |
|
|
| 4. Are sources or viewpoints that you might expect to be present clearly expressed? |
|
|
| 5. If there is any advertising on the page, is it clearly differentiated from the informational content? |
|
|
|
CURRENCY
|
YES
|
NO
|
| 1. Are there dates on the page to indicate when the page was written? |
|
|
| 2. Are there dates on the page to indicate when the page was last updated? |
|
|
| 3. Are there any other indications that the material is kept current? |
|
|
| 4. If material is presented in graphs or charts, is it clearly stated when the data was gathered? |
|
|
|
COVERAGE
|
YES
|
NO
|
| 1. Is there an indication that the page has been completed, and is not still under construction? |
|
|
| 2. If there is a print equivalent to the Web page, is there a clear indication of whether the entire work is available on the Web, or only parts of it? |
|
|
| 3. If the material is from a work which is out of copyright (as in the case of a dictionary or thesaurus) has there been an effort to update the material to make it more current? |
|
|
Note: This checklist is adapted from Web Wisdom: How to Evaluate and Create Information Quality on the Web, copyright Jan Alexander and Marsha Ann Tate 1996-1999.
Back to Main Page
|
