How to Identify a Good Reliable Web Page

A few hints to guide you as you surf the net!

Author/Credibility

Who is the author? or Is the site produced by a group or organization?

Is information provided to legitimize the background of the person or or group producing the site?

What is the bias of the author/producer/organization?

Is there a way to contact the author or supply feedback?

If you search for the author's name do you find more information about the author?

Reliability of the Information

What is the purpose of the site (e.g., information, advertising, )?

Is the material easy to read and understand?

Is the information up to date?

Is the information complete and accurate?

Are links provided to additional sites?

Is there a bibliography?

Does the information contradict something you already know or have learned from another source?

If you check the links to this site what kind of sites are linked to it?

Try this!

Copy the web site address by highlighting and using edit and copy (or control c)
Go to http://www.altavista.com/ type in link: and paste the address of the site that you are investigating.

Hit Return and the links to the site will be listed.

Design

Is the site easy to read? Or do fancy fonts and inappropriate colors make reading difficult?

Do the graphics and art complete the information, or are they just decorative?

Are there spelling or grammatical errors?

Do you have to scroll forever to reach the bottom of the page?

Do you have to click through page after page to reach the information that you seek?

Moving Around the Site

Is it easy to move around the site?

Does it load quickly? or Can you turn off the graphics?

Are there links to other resources? Are the links up-to-date? Do the links work?

Are fees required?

Diane Beaman's evaluation tool (pdf)