Evaluating Websites: In-class Worksheet
- 1. Worksheet for Evaluating Web sites Web site evaluated ______________________________________________________________ Rate Web sites using this rubric: Criteria 10 Points 5 Points 0 Points 1 Is the information Yes, I’ve read it and Probably but not Maybe not. accurate? it seems accurate to sure. me. 2 Is the information Yes, the answer to It’s relevant to the No, this site does relevant? my research topic but does not not answer my question is here. answer my question. research question. 3 Is the information Balances points with Presents facts with Biased, meaning to balanced? contrary views. Little analysis or sell or persuade, or criticism. presented as a joke. 4 What about the Trusted authority. Seems ok but can’t Private individual author? really tell. could be anyone. 5 Can you contact Name and contact Name or institution No contact info, no the author or given with link to given, but no link to home page. institution? home page. contact. 6 Who publishes Trusted institution, Some kind of A private the site? links back to home institution looks real individual. page. but not sure. 7 Domain name? .edu or .gc.ca or .gov .org or .net .com or tilde (~) or or .ab.ca or .on.ca can’t tell 8 Is a date given? Yes, and it is up-to Yes but out-of-date. Doesn’t say, no date. date on site. 9 Readability? Easy to read. Hard to read. Impossible to read. 10 Accuracy? Clear expression, no One or two typos. Grammatical errors mistakes. and misspellings. Created March 10, 2011 / Julie Anne Kent, Hons., BA, MLIS 1
- 2. 11 Are the graphics Helpful illustrations, Illustrations distract No graphics. helpful? fast loading. or hard to download. 12 Is the information Many references Few references and No references. referenced? and links. links. 13 Navigation? Easy to browse and Info is there, but not No navigation aids. find information. easy to find. 14 Ads and pop-ups? No commercials, ads Some, but not Too many, too or pop-ups. distracting or are commercial. associated with the web site’s owner or association. 15 A free site? All free. Some free stuff but Pay, subscribe, or some materials and only get a free trial. information for which you must pay. Total per column Add up total from each column for web site’s total score: ________ Total score available is 150 possible points. Web sites scoring over 115 points might be considered reliable and relevant for use in your assignments. Those web sites scoring less than 115 points are suspicious of intent, quality, accuracy, and reliability and perhaps not acceptable for your academic work. Adopted by Julie Anne Kent from original work by Vance Stevens http://www.vancestevens.com . Freely shareable for non commercial use under Creative Commons License. Created March 10, 2011 / Julie Anne Kent, Hons., BA, MLIS 2