THE SMART WEB PRIMER, PART 2: Sizing Up Sites; How to Judge What You Find on the Web
By Ann K. Symons -- School Library Journal, 4/1/1997
Put a Web site under a magnifying glass. Only then can you vouch for its quality.
The amount of useless content on the Web boggles the imagination. If you've spent even one day surfing the Net, it's obvious that you would never select more than one percent of what's on the Web for your print collection.
Teachers are starting to realize this. Those who are integrating the Web into their lessons have begun -- at least in my school -- to talk with kids about the quality of the information they find.
As librarians who select and organize information, we know that evaluating information can be difficult. We're asking ourselves right now how to evaluate the information we come across on the Web. Some librarians use rating methods, including stars (one to five), numerical scores (using a scale of 50 or 100), and the A-F report-card grading method.
I suggest that we don't need stars, grades, or points. I can't remember the last time I sat down to evaluate a book and filled out a form or assigned points to criteria. As we become more familiar with Web sites and as evaluation criteria for electronic sources develop, we will grow comfortable with the process, just as we are with evaluating books and non-print media.
The Pioneers
A few pioneering librarians joined the Web evaluation game early on. Fortunately, they shared their criteria through professional journals and the Web itself. Carolyn Caywood, Bayside Area Librarian at the Virginia Beach (VA) Public Library, was one of the first to write criteria assessing Web sites for library use.
To help school librarians identify quality Web sites relevant to the curriculum, the American Association of School Librarians' ICONnect task force has published its Evaluation Criteria Rating System for Web Sites on its site. The task force, chaired by Pam Berger, has provided a thoughtful Web form to evaluate Web sites critically.
There is even a Web site devoted to criteria for evaluating Web sites. There you'll find criteria and bibliographies of Web and print articles collected by Alastair Smith at the Department of Library and Information Studies at England's Victoria University. It's a truly amazing resource.
Ready-Made Reviews
There are two good ways to find Web sites that meet the needs of students and teachers. The first is to read reviews written by colleagues. The second, which I will discuss later, is to look at library Web sites and the links that librarians have chosen.
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Columnist Speaks Gail Junion-Metz |
I also recommend two other review sources: the "Internet Reviews" column in College & Research Libraries News and James Rettig's (College of William and Mary) monthly column in "Rettig on Reference".
One project calls for librarian input. Boyd Collins, a former LJ Web reviewer, is also the founder of the Infofilter Project, a model for reviewing Web sites. The project provides the opportunity for librarians to rate Web sites using a template and then posts the evaluations.
All of these efforts, however, review only a handful of sites each month. Clearly there is a role in Web evaluation for all of us. Visit the InfoFilter site and begin to make your professional contribution.
I also suggest visiting sites rated by commercial rating services. While you may not agree with their criteria (or even be able to find them), there is value in looking at sites rated by others. For example I-way magazine's, I-way 500 clearly states its criteria: 1) purpose, 2) depth of content, 3) navigation, 4) accuracy, 5) accessibility, 6) design/style, and 7) performance. As librarians, we may add other criteria, but we'd certainly include all of these.
The second way to find good Web sites is to look at the home pages of both school and public libraries to see what they've put on their pages. Each decision was made by a librarian. Whether or not the selection criteria are evident, these handpicked sites may be worth a look.
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Real Web Site Ann K. Symons puts |
Accessibility: Can you access the site easily? Are there times when the traffic is so heavy that you cannot access it? Is a password required? Does the URL change frequently, or, in other words, is this a stable, reliable site?
Accuracy: Is the information accurate when checked against other sources? Or is it the opinion of the author or institution responsible for the information?
Affiliation: What corporate entity (cataloging lingo for company, organization, government agency, university, etc.) supports this information? Is there a connection from the page to the home page of a larger institution? Can you tell if the sponsoring institution controls what is published under its name? Does the institutional affiliation appear to bias the information? Is there an e-mail contact for the organization? Is there a "snail mail" address?
Appropriateness of links: Are the Web page's links related to the subject content of the page? Are there links that should be on the page but are missing? Does the site owner check the links frequently, i.e., do they all work?
Attention from reviewers: Has this site been reviewed by a professional publication, such as Library Journal, School Library Journal, C&RL News, "Rettig on Reference"? Has the site been rated by a commercial rating service? Has this site been recommended by a colleague? Has it been included in a bibliography of Web sites compiled by a librarian?
Audience: Who is the intended audience? Students in elementary school, middle school, high school, adults? Does the site identify its audience?
Authority: Who is the author? Is it an individual, educational institution, government agency, nonprofit organization, or corporation? If it's an individual, what can you find out about this person from the page? Is the author an acknowledged expert in the field? Is the author affiliated with an institution or other entity? Can you contact the author by e-mail or regular mail? Are there links to a home page where you can find information about the site's publisher?
Clarity/Readability: Is this site well-written? Are the spelling and grammar accurate? Does the reading level match the intended audience?
Content: Is this a "rich" site? Or does it merely provide links to other sites? Is the information original, or an abstract of information located elsewhere? Are there special features in this site -- charts, maps, graphs? If there is sound and video, do they add something to the site? How much of the site is under construction? Is there a bibliography or do links fill that role?
Cost: Is there a fee for using this information? Are you asked to provide payment information online? Does the site provide a secure way to send payment?
Currency: Does the site make it easy to know how old its information is? Is it easy to tell when something has been updated? Is there a copyright date?
Curriculum support: Is this site useful for the school's curriculum? Is this a site you would recommend to a teacher who is integrating technology into the curriculum?
Depth/Breadth: How detailed is the site's coverage of its subject? Is the treatment comprehensive? Are there links to other resources on the same topic? Is the depth and breadth of treatment of the subject appropriate to your intended curricular use?
Design: Are the pages attractive? Do they fit in the screen, or do you have to scroll to get to the bottom? Do the graphics enhance the site? Are there thumbnails of large graphics? Does the design help the user to find the information? Are icons simple, consistent, and easy to use?
Diversity of viewpoint: Does this page represent a variety of viewpoints or is it biased toward one extreme?
Duplication: What information does your library have that complements materials on the Web site? And in what formats? Is what's available on the Web more current? How does its content compare to your in-house collection?
Interaction: Does the site provide any opportunities for students to interact with the information? In what ways?
Navigation: Is the page titled? Are there headings for each section? Is there a well-labeled table of contents? Can you navigate directly from the table of contents to any given section? Are links annotated and descriptive of the content?
Performance: Is this site compatible with your browser? Do graphics load quickly? If not, are they worth waiting for? Is the information accessible if you have a Lynx browser? Can the text stand alone if you are using Lynx? Do all the graphics have to transfer before the content appears?
Purpose: Why is this site here -- to inform, persuade, educate, explain? Is the purpose stated?
Searchability: Is a search engine provided to search the site's content? Is the entire resource indexed? Are there instructions for the search engine? Is there keyword searching? Boolean operators? How quick is your search?
Uniqueness: Is the site one-of-a-kind? Does it include content not found elsewhere? Are there unique features?
That's a very long list, but remember that most evaluation criteria lists for books and other educational materials are also very long. Of the list of criteria above, the most important one -- and the one to consider first -- is content. If a site doesn't have content, there isn't much point in spending time with it. I suggest that if you haven't found any content after clicking through three or four screens, move on.
The Future of Web Evaluation
No one will be able to evaluate all of the information on the Web, but what we can do is to share the reviewing process with our colleagues through articles and Web sites. As more and more of us connect, librarians will become discerning selectors of Web information, just as we are discerning selectors of print and AV information.
As we develop expertise in evaluating Web sites, it's crucial that we don't stop with ourselves. The important thing is to teach these skills to kids and teachers so they can evaluate resources on their own -- or know to ask a librarian.
For Further Information
Auer, Nicole. "Bibliography on Evaluating Internet Resources." Updated 1/23/97. refserver.lib.vt.edu/libinst/critTHINK.HTM
Caywood, Carolyn. "Library Selection Criteria for WWW Resources." 1995, updated 1996. duckdock.acic.com/carolyn/criteria.htm
Collins, Boyd R. "Beyond Cruising: Reviewing." Library Journal (February 15, 1996): 122-124
Grassian, Esther. "Thinking Critically About World Wide Web Resources." Updated 2/20/97. www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/instruct/critical/htm
Information Quality WWW Virtual Library. "Evaluation of Information Sources." Updated 2/4/97. www.vuw.ac.nz/~agsmith/evaln/evaln.htm
Kirk, Elizabeth E. "Evaluating Information Found on the Internet." c1996, updated 1997. milton.mse.jhu.edu:8001/research/education/net.html
Leita, Carol. "Evaluating Internet Resources: A Checklist." infopeople.berkeley.edu:8000/bkmk/select.html
Pratt, Gregory F, Patrick Flannery, and Cassandra L.D. Perkins. "Guidelines for Internet Resource Selection." C&RL News (March 1996): 134-135
Purdue University Libraries. "Evaluating World Wide Web Information." Updated 2/96. thorplus.lib.purdue.edu/library_info/instruction /gs175/3gs175/evaluation.html
Rettig, James. "Beyond 'Cool': Analog Models for Reviewing Digital Resources." Online (September/October 1996): 52+. Also at www.onlineinc.com/onlinemag/SeptOL/rettig9.html
Smith, Alastair. "Criteria For Evaluation of Internet Information Resources." Updated 5/23/96. www.vuw.ac.nz/~agsmith/evaln/index.htm
Tillman, Hope. "Evaluating Quality on the Net." c1995, updated 2/7/97. www.tiac.net/users/hope/findqual.html
University of Washington Libraries. "Web Rating Services: Rating the Ratings." c1996. weber.u.washington.edu/~libr560/NETEVAL/group4.html
To demystify Web search engines see Part 1 of "The Smart Web Primer".
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Ann K. Symons is Librarian at Juneau-Douglas (AK) High School. |
