Guide for Evaluating a Web Page

    I. General Information

Examine the information you find keeping these questions in mind:

     Who is the author/creator or contact person for the document?

     Who publishes or maintains the Web site?  

         What is the document URL?

         What is the title of the document?  

     Is the site well maintained?

         When was the information created??

        When was the information last updated?

         Is this a Home Page or a Document?

        What kind of information does this page contain? 

     Do I need very current information?

     What are the possibilities that this information is in some way biased?

     Should I use more than one search engine?

     Did I get the best information, or did I miss some good Web sites?

 

    II. Purpose

         Who is the intended audience?

         What appears to be the purpose for this information?

         ___Inform ___Explain ___Persuade    How can you tell?

         How would you classify this document/homepage (choose one):

         ___Entertainment

         ___Business/Marketing Sponsored by a commercial enterprise attempting to promote or sell products. URL frequently ends in .com (commercial)

         ___Reference/Informational Purpose is to present factual information. Often sponsored by educational institutions or governmental agencies. URL frequently ends in .edu or .gov

         ___News Primary purpose is to provide extremely current information. URL usually ends in .com (commercial).

         ___Advocacy Usually sponsored by an organization attempting to influence public opinion. URL frequently ends in .org (organization).

         ___Personal Home Page Published by an individual who may or may not be affiliated with a larger institution. URL may have a variety of endings (.com, .edu), a tilde (~) is frequently embedded somewhere in the URL.

    III. Credibility/Authority Author

It is very important to evaluate the credentials of the author of the content of the Web page. Credentials include these concerns: the level of authority, expertise and responsibility the author has for the information, and the knowledge base, skills, or standards employed by the author in gathering and communicating the information. Is the content reviewed, critiqued or verified in any way? Do other authoritative sites link to the page?

     Signed articles are the best sources. If you can't identify the author, organization or corporation

     that wrote the Web page or posted the information, the information is suspect.

     Ways to find the credentials:

          Look at the domain name to find more out about the author. Educational entities have

          ".edu" in their addresses, while ".com" indicates that the information comes from a

          company.  More information about domain names is available at

          <http://www.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc1591.txt>.

          Examine other Web page(s) on the site for information about the author. If you connect

          to a page that ends in ".html" deep within the Web site, try backing up to get information

          about the source of the Web site. You can jump up directory levels to try to find the main

          page by eliminating portions of the url. For example, jump up a level by cutting the

          "lit.html" from the url to this Web page: <http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/hss/ref/lit.html>. Keep

          working your way back. In the case of the example above, the main page is at:

          <http://web.uflib.ufl.edu>.

          Use reference books to help verify the identity of a mysterious Web author or publisher.

          There are many excellent online and print company directories available in the Business

          Library or the Reference Collection of Library West, as well as publisher directories,

          biographical encyclopedias and Who's Who in America.  Ask a librarian to assist you.

         Is the author the original creator of the information?

         ___yes ___no ___can't tell

         Does the author list his/her occupation, years of experience, position or education?

         ___yes ___no

       

         Do you feel that the author is qualified to write on the given topic?

         ___yes ___no

         Is there a link to a home page?

         ___yes ___no    If yes, what is the name of the home page?

        

And what is the URL? Validity of Publisher

The pages of authoritative and well-known agencies such as the Mayo Clinic, the U. S. Census Bureau,

a Fortune 500 company or Harvard University often provide more reliable information than the Web pages

of a hobbyist dabbling in the subject area, or a special interest group such as Heaven's Gate.

     Subscription Web databases that are purchased by UF or other academic institutions are

     highly reliable. Examples of licensed databases are the Periodicals Content Index, Dow Jones

     Interactive or the links to full-text reference works and journals within the UF Libraries' Catalog via

     WebLUIS.

     Choose sources from established publishers over ones about which you know little. Use reference books in the library or

     online reference sources to learn about the publisher.

     Give preference to information from government agencies, trade and professional associations, major universities or  

     organizations and research centers.

         What institution (company, government, university, etc.) or Internet provider supports this information?

         If it is a commercial Internet provider, does the author appear to have any affiliation with a larger institution?

         If yes, what is the name of the institution? If it is an institution, have you heard of it before?

         Is there a non-Web equivalent version of this material, which would provide a way of verifying its legitimacy?

         

    IV. Accuracy

         Are the sources for factual information clearly listed so that the information can be verified?

        Is the information free of grammatical, spelling and other typographical errors?

        Is it clear who has the ultimate responsibility for the accuracy of the content of the material?  Who?

    V. Objectivity

         Is there a statement that the content of the page has the official approval of the institution/organization/company?

        Does the institution appear to filter the information appearing under its name?  How can you tell?

        Does the author's affiliation with this particular institution appear to bias the information?  How can you tell?  Given the

       answers to the previous questions, do you believe the information in this document is appropriate for your topic?

Evaluation of Information

Once the desired resource or information has been located, either through a purposeful search or serendipitous browsing, the resource or information should be evaluated. This evaluation process is really no different than the process people use in evaluating the information they acquire from a neighbor, friend, newspaper, television broadcast or bulletin board flyer. However, because information available on the Internet is not regulated for quality or accuracy, unlike similar information

found in newspapers or television broadcasts, it is particularly important for the individual Internet user to perform a personal evaluation of the resource or information.

Over time, librarians and other information professionals have developed a set of criteria, which can be used to evaluate whether to include a particular item (book, journal, pamphlet, etc.) in the collection of a given library or institution. One popular reference text (Smith, Linda C. (1991)

"Selection and Evaluation of Reference Sources" in Richard E. Bopp & Linda C. Smith (eds.),

Reference and Information Services: An Introduction. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, p.240)

includes the following criteria:

     Format -- Information resources on the Internet are generally structured in one of three ways:

     file archives, gopher files, or hypertext documents which correspond to the Internet tools of

     ftp, gopher and world wide web. The process for determining the availability of a particular

     information resource varies based on which type of resource is desired. Also, in some

     situations it will not be possible to access a resource in a particular format. For example, some

     Internet providers do not provide browsers or viewers for world wide web.

     Scope -- The scope of a particular information resource is a measure of the intended

     coverage of the source, the actual coverage of the topic it provides and the currency of the

     information it contains. Often times, the coverage of a topic by an information resource is

     greatly influenced by the audience for which the resource was created. Internet documents

     titled "readme" or "about this..." often provide information about the scope of a particular

     resource; however, it is often only possible to guess at the scope by browsing around a given

     information resource.

     Relation to Other Works -- As might be expected of a large electronic network with no

     centralized organizing or regulating body, the Internet contains many resources that overlap

     with one another. An individual collecting the addresses of Internet resources is likely to

     acquire a large file which will quickly become unmanageable. Recognizing the relationships

     between particular resources and discarding duplicative addresses is one method of electronic

     information management. In addition, many Internet resources have print counterparts which

     may or may not contain more information than the Internet information resource. An

     awareness of this fact will help in locating the most complete and current information available

     on a given topic.

     Authority -- Knowing the educational and/or occupational background of the creator or

     compiler of an information resource can help in determining the reliability and accuracy of the

     resource and the information it contains. Among other things, personal home pages on the

     world wide web, campus directory entries and information retrieved through finger may reveal

     useful and relevant infomation about an information provider.

     Treatment -- Determining the intended audience of a particular Internet resource will reveal

     the intended treatment of the information contained in the work. Two types of distinctions can

     be particularly useful: scholarly vs. general public and expert vs. novice (student) Examining

     the objectivity of the resource will also help determine the accuracy and reliability of the

     information provided.

     Arrangement -- The Internet has no overriding organizational scheme or structure. Many

     resources are arranged alphabetically, just like many print sources; however, many other

     organizational structures exist including academic department, corporate structure, type of

     resource, and subject categories. How well a resource is arranged will impact how easy it is

     to use.

     Cost -- While the Internet is often touted as a free resource, there are many hidden costs, and

     others that are not so hidden. First, the Internet was developed and continues to be

     maintained, in many cases, through federal funding. Accessing the Internet requires, minimally,

     a computer, modem and an Internet access provider. In some areas, free-nets provide access

     without charge to members of the local community; however, free-nets are not widely

     existent. Many Internet users have access to the Internet through an academic institution or

     other organization. If desired, individuals can purchase Internet access through commercial

     Internet providers. The cost of doing so can vary greatly. And, though the hype that surrounds

     the Internet may not portray this, not all of the information resources on the Internet are free.

     There are numerous fee-based databases and other services for which users must pay if they

     want to use them. Finally, many people discover that the Internet is costly in non-monetary

     ways as well. Finding and/or providing information on the Internet is sometimes a frustrating

     and time consuming experience, requiring much patience and energy. For some people, this is

     not a problem; for others, it is better to be less involved with the Internet.

Though these criteria can be used most easily to evaluate printed information and resources, they can also be applied to resources and information found on the Internet in order to determine the accuracy and usability of a particular Internet resource.

Is the Web site well maintained?

 Are there lots of "dead links"?   Webmasters maintaining reputable and active sites redirect users to new locations of Web pages.

What is the date of revision?  Reliable sources list the dates that revisions are made on Web pages.  Is the date over one or two years old?

Currency? Is the information current and is it important that the information be current?  While it is very easy to find current news and information on the free Web and through subscription Web services, most authoritative historical information is often not available via the Internet.  Be sure to consult books, bibliographies and print indexes to journal literature, etc. at your library, when researching something of a historical nature.

Often the latest issue of a magazine is available on the Web before the library receives the print issue.   However, in most cases, it is the library that will have back issues; free Web sites typically do not maintain archives of older issues of journals.

The Web is a good place to find the latest discussion and public opinion on an issue.

 Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe and Dow Jones Interactive are subscription services that provide very current articles from newspapers, magazines and wire services.  Other news sources are also available freely on the Internet.

Bias/Objectivity

Does the author or publisher have a particular viewpoint that they seek to endorse? For example, a large

tobacco company will present a perspective on smoking at their Web site that varies from that of the

American Cancer Society.

     What are the biases and motivations of the compiler in gathering and publishing the data?

     Look for the stated purpose of the Web site to determine if there is possibility of bias.  If there is

     no stated purpose, you may be able to determine the purpose of the Web site by investigating the

     publisher or author.

     Information from businesses, political or pressure groups, list servers devoted to non-academic or research missions, newsgroups and advocacy groups often are biased towards that group's views.

Search Engines

A recent study by scientists at NEC Research Institute indicates that of the 800 million publicly available

pages on the Web, search engines provide access to about 16% of these pages.  In addition, there is

very little overlap in the pages that the major search engines cover in common.

 While most search engines try to update their indexes to the Web monthly, they lag behind at times.  Use more than one search engine to compensate for lags in coverage.

Use several search engines for comprehensive searches of the Web (such as Northern Light,Snap, HotBot, or AltaVista.)

Use metasearch services to search several search engines at once (such as  Profusion, or Dogpile.)

 Use subject based search engines when possible, such as MusicSearch.com or HealthWeb. Search Engine Colossus lists search engines that cover specific subject areas.

 Use Web megasites such as Yahoo, the WWW Virtual Library or the Argus Clearinghouse that register and/or "catalog" new Web sites by their subject area and content.

Did I get the best information, or did I miss some good Web sites?

     Try one of the UF Libraries' Internet Subject Guides.  Librarians only list the best Web sites on these guides.

     Try one of the subject based megasites such as Argus Clearinghouse, or the Librarian's Index to the Internet. They select the best Web pages and/or sites according to their criteria, and group them by subject.

     Look at reviews of the Web sites.

     You can't find it all in one Web site or database.  If you searched a selective information source such as one of the licensed UF Libraries databases, you miss things in other databases  or on the Internet.  Try another source.

     Maybe it's not on the Web.  Many times the best sources are not available on the Web. There

     may be a more "traditional" source in the library that provides superior information, such as a

     book or a CD-ROM.

Questions? Ask at the local library Information/Reference Desk for help in evaluating your Web

search!