Website Evaluation
Take your websites APART (Authority, Purpose, Accuracy, Relevance, Timeliness). Here are the key criteria to consider when evaluating a website:
Authority
Timeliness
Some websites that can provide assistance in evaluating websites:
Rutgers Riot: Section 5 of this interactive tutorial gives you practice in evaluating sources (general and/or web).
easyWhois: This site gives you information about who owns a website. Useful if you suspect that there may be a bias.
This Web Evaluation Guide might help you:
Authority
- Anyone can publish online, so it is important to recognize who is putting the information online.
- Is it easy to find out who is responsible for this information?
- Is the responsible party a reliable source?
- Does the responsible party have qualifications that would make him/her an expert in the field?
- Is the website on a domain such as an .edu site (which would be an educational institution)?
- Is the purpose of the site clear?
- Who is the intended audience?
- Is there a bias in these documents? Often, biased information can appear to be factual instead of an opinion, so you must read carefully.
- Are sponsors easy to see and do they have a stake in the information? (for example: an herbal supplement manufacturer sponsoring a site providing health information that would lead you to buy the supplements is biased)
- Is the information on the website researched and documented?
- Does the author use sources that are reliable and legitimate?
- Does the information help you answer your research questions?
- Is it written at an appropriate level for your needs (not too basic or too advanced)?
Timeliness
- Is the website current?
- Is it updated regularly?
- Do the links work?
- The kind of information you seek helps determine the importance of the website's currency.
Some websites that can provide assistance in evaluating websites:
Rutgers Riot: Section 5 of this interactive tutorial gives you practice in evaluating sources (general and/or web).
easyWhois: This site gives you information about who owns a website. Useful if you suspect that there may be a bias.
This Web Evaluation Guide might help you:
| websiteevaluationguide.pdf |