Criteria for the Evaluation of Web Pages
It's so easy to post information on the Internet that everyone can do it. Unfortunately, thousands of web pages are unreliable. In order to evaluate web pages for your own use, you must be able to take the information presented and evaluate it with guidelines. Typically, there are five areas of web page criteria to consider, although you may want to establish your own validity guidelines as you do research.
Other People Are Reading
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Accuracy
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Always verify pertinent details with other sources. A reliable web page should have fact checkers or editors who double-check information before posting it to the Internet, but that rarely happens. Since no accuracy evaluation criteria are in place on the Internet, it's the responsibility of the reader to know how reliable and accurate the website actually is before using it as a reference.
Authority
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Determine who the author of the website is. Know the difference between an author and a Webmaster. You should find links to that person's biographical information on the website. If the website has sponsorship, decide what role, if any, that has in the information presented. A signed or authored website should have information on it regarding how to contact the author or sponsor at the very least by email. Websites with .edu, .gov, .org, or .net extensions tend to be more authoritative.
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Objectivity
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Look for signs of bias on the page. Consider whom the intended audience is and why the author is trying to reach them. Some websites serve as personal soapboxes for both private authors and corporate sponsors. Pages that display advertising may provide information that leads you to purchase the product for sale. Also, check who owns the URL of the website to help detect if there's a hidden agenda or bias.
Currency
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Check the website for how frequently it updates. Certain topics of information are extremely fluid and the information needs to be current. Be aware that some web pages have automatic updaters as part of the web coding. This makes the material appear fresh when it's not. Another evaluation criteria for currency is how well the links work. If many of the links lead to "File 404---Information Not Found" pages or broken links, you should suspect the website is not current.
Coverage
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Evaluate web pages on a website for how well they cover the material. While all the material may be available on one page, other websites may set up different pages for different subtopics. Carefully read the material for both its content and for the depth of its coverage. Look for unique information not found on other websites.
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References
- Photo Credit internet - eingabefeld internet http://www image by pmphoto from Fotolia.com
