URL/Address: ______________________________________________________
Title of the site: ______________________________________________________
Date accessed: _____________________________________________________
Is there
another information source that you know of where you could find this
information or check for accuracy? If so, where?
_______________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Can you
identify the author or producer of the site? Who are they? _______________
_________________________________________________________________
Is contact information for the author or producer available?
_________________________________________________________________
Is the author affiliated with an organization, agency, company, or institution? If so, which one?: _________________________________________________________________
Is
there a link to more information about the organization, agency, company or
institution?
_________________________________________________________________
What is the
expertise of the person who created this site? What are their qualifications?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Is there an
evident bias on the site? If so,
what is it and how is it important to your research?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
What
is the purpose of the web page (is it supposed to be informative?
entertaining? factual?)
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Who is
the
site’s target audience? (adults, kids, college students, etc.)?
____________
___________________________________________________________________
Is
the page dated? When was the
web site last revised? Is this important to your research?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Did
you find many "dead" links? Have some expired or moved? (Don't assume that the linked sites are the best
available, either. Be sure to ask the same questions of those sites!)
__________________
___________________________________________________________________
Exactly
what information on the site is important to your research?
_________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Is
the material on the web site in-depth enough for your needs? Too in-depth?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Is the text
readable, is it grammatically correct, are words spelled correctly? _________
___________________________________________________________________
Do you have any other observations or notes you think are
important? ______________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
For more detailed web site evaluation guidelines, you may also want to refer to the Web Evaluation Checklists from Widener University Libraries:
Still have
questions about the web site you are evaluating? Ask a librarian!
:-)
Return
to Evaluating
Resources | Return to Research
Help
Created by Pace University Library
Revised 2/03
Sarah Burns
sburns@pace.edu