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Evaluating Websites

Hazards of the Web

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Form (PDF)

The World Wide Web (WWW) is a system of Internet servers that supports most of the protocols that run on the Internet. This means that via a WWW server, you can access information in a variety of forms through one interface. Internet Protocols accessible through the WWW include E-mail; File Transfer Protocol (FTP); Telnet (TCP/IP); and Usenet News.

The World Wide Web (WWW) is a public domain. Anyone with the technology and desire can publish information on the WWW. This makes the WWW an exciting and interesting information resource. But this openness also creates hazards for those doing scholarly research.

Hazards of the World Wide Web:

1. "If it's not on the Web, it doesn't exist."
2. "Free! Free! It's all FREE!!!"
3. "Is it information or advertising?"
4. "How did I get here??..."
5. "This isn't what I searched for..."
6. "Here today, gone tomorrow!"
7. "This page is best viewed using..."

 

1. "If it's not on the Web, it doesn't exist."
The breadth of the WWW can make it seem like it is the best information resource available. It contains information from around the world, but it is not the only source of information in the world! Don't forget books and print journals are available and are the most reliable resources of scholarly information. Generally, it is best to begin your research by doing some preliminary strategizing and searching in print indexes and subject headings volumes to find the appropriate terms to use to search for your topic. Then go to the materials.

3. "Is it information or advertising?"
There is not always a clear distinction between information, advertising and entertainment content on a WWW site. Businesses will often use a combination of the three to sell products and services. This could lead to information being biased and inaccurate. There are at least two things you can do to quickly screen your information by examining the URL or address of the WWW site (for example <http://www.iona.edu> is Iona College's URL).

Look at the domain name in the URL. The domain name is highlighted here: http://www.iona.edu

If it is a .com, the site is a commercial site with the purpose of selling some product or service, not necessarily providing the most current and accurate information. However, don't dismiss .com sites. For example, if you were doing stock research, you would find excellent stock index information at Standard Poor's Stock Index site: http://www.spglobal.com/index.html.

If it is a .net, the site is on a private network Internet provider and more than likely someone's personal home page. The content may have a subjective bias of which the author may not even be fully aware. Personal home pages are not the best resources for impartial, objective, factual information. A telltale sign of a personal home page is a ~ in the URL. http://www.server.net/~knucklehead/myopinions.htm, is what a personal home page URL might look like.

However, don't automatically exclude .net sites! It has been pointed out that many professionals and faculty at various companies, organizations, and institutions maintain Web pages with current research, lecture notes, and excellent discipline-related resources.

If the domain is .org, the site is a non-profit organization's site. Information on .org sites is generally more objective and access is offered to materials you could only obtain for a fee elsewhere on the WWW. To see an excellent example of the spirit of .org sites, visit HealthWeb: "HealthWeb provides links to specific, evaluated information resources on the World Wide Web selected by librarians and information professionals at leading academic medical centers in the Midwest. Selection emphasizes quality information aimed at assisting health care professionals as well as consumers in meeting their health information needs."

If the domain is .gov, the site is a US government site. The US government offers many of the materials it has traditionally issued in print via the WWW. Visit GPO Access (Gov't. Printing Office site) and FedWorld to search the resources the US government offers.

If the domain name is .edu, the site is running off of an educational institution's server. You can generally find accurate, credible, objective information on .edu sites, but be aware of the for-profit/not-for-profit interests an educational institution may have as well as it's political and religious orientation.

Also, be aware of the issue of academic freedom, freedom of expression, and open access. For example, "Arthur Butz, a professor of engineering at Northwestern University, contends the Holocaust is a hoax. He has set up a home page featuring a swastika that belligerently proclaims his views on the University's Web site. Meanwhile, other Northwestern faculty and students have objected to his use of a university-sponsored electronic forum." ("Free Speech in Cyberspace: What's a University to Do?" Free Speech in the College Community, Bloomington IN: Indiana University Press, iupress@indiana.edu) Despite the good reputation of any institution, you must critically evaluate the content of the material you are accessing.

Look at the server name in the URL to see whose computer system is supporting the Web page. The server name appears in this part of the URL: http://www.iona.edu.

If the server is the name of a popular company or brand (http://www.microsoft.com, http://www.nike.com, etc.), the information on that site may be presented in a way that portrays the product or company in a positive light and does not give equal time to whatever negative or controversial issues the product or company may be involved in that would be relevant to your research question. Microsoft may have information on their web site about their antitrust violations presented from their point of view. Nike may offer no information about their treatment of foreign workers.

If the server is the name of an organization or institution with an obvious point of view, for example, http://www.greenpeace.org/ ,  you can quickly access a site that presents a particular groups point of view on a topical issue or avoid it.

If the server is the name of an organization or institution you recognize as reputable and a purveyor of credible academic information, you can generally assume that the information you will find is good enough for your scholarly research.

As you can see, there are no safeguards against bad information or surefire ways to pinpoint good information on the WWW. You must always be discriminating and critique the information you access in this medium.

4. "How did I get here??..."
Principles of good Web page design are not always employed by authors of Web pages.  Lack of good design can cause real problems for users.  Researchers Linda B. Paez, Jose Bezerra Da Silva-Fh and Gary Marchionini write:

An interactive user interface involves a dyadic communication between the user and the computer system. If one or the other does not carry out their role in the communication pattern, disorientation may result (Mantei, 1982). Shneiderman describes disorientation...as the "sensation of discomfort, frustration and even extreme stress when [users]...are unsuccessfully attempting to navigate through their environment...." (Shneiderman, 1987, p.181)...disorientation may occur when users lose track of their goal or when it becomes difficult to return to a specific item of information (Foss, 1989; Gay and Mazur, 1991). Edwards and Hardman describe disorientation in three ways: not knowing where to go next, not knowing how to get there, and not knowing where you are at a given time in relation to the whole (Edwards and Hardman, 1989)...After following a series of nodes, readers may lose track of what their original purpose was in seeking out that particular information. They may also forget to pursue other nodes that they had planned on following originally or forget which ones they had already pursued (Foss, 1989).

Be aware of Web page design and the effect of the technology on you and your thought processes. If you are feeling lost and frustrated, it may have as much to do with the technology as it does with how well you have formulated your research question. See hazard 7. below for more on the use of this technology to deliver information.

1. Paez, Linda B., Jose Bezzera Da Silva-Fh and Gary Marchionini. "Disorientation in Electronic Environments: A Study of Hypertext and Continuous Zooming Interfaces."College of Library and Information Services University of Maryland at College Park. <http://www.ee.umd.edu/~zeclipse/doh/home/clis2/lpaez/public_html/padstudy.r.html> (Sep. 2, 1998).

5. "This isn't what I searched for..."
World Wide Web sites retrieved in a search are not always relevant to your topic. Due to the way Internet search engines operate, coupled with intentional 'spoofing' of HTML code, you are likely to retrieve Web pages that are irrelevant to your topic. This can make your research experience lengthy, confusing, and frustrating.

Spend some time examining the capabilities and searching techniques unique to the major search engines before selecting one. To learn more about how the major search engines operate:

Visit Search Engine Watch and read their 'A Webmaster's Guide To Search Engines'.

Examine the Search Engines Features Chart to see what unique capabilities the various search engines have to offer.

Check the Search Engine Watch Review Chart to see how the search engines were ranked by leading magazines in the Computer and Internet field.

If you are a novice WWW searcher, use a search engine that offers advanced searching capabilities.These expanded search screens will lead you through a very precise search and show you all the possible elements of a good WWW search. Each of the following search engines offers an advanced searching capability:

• Google
• Lycos
• AltaVista
• HotBot
• Yahoo!

Always take advantage of the help screens at these search sites and ask a reference librarian for assistance.

6. "Here today, gone tomorrow!"
Information you find today may be gone tomorrow!WWW sites appear and disappear daily without announcement or notice. When you find good information you would like to cite, print it out! If you do not have access to a printer, collect all of the information you need to properly cite the resource. It is unethical to use someone else's ideas and exact words in your papers without giving them proper credit. Cutting and pasting of text from a WWW document into your papers and not giving a full citation of the document is plagiarism. See the College Code of Conduct for Iona's response to plagiarism and academic dishonesty. To make sure you are using and citing information in all forms appropriately in your papers, follow the guidelines offered in the following texts kept on reserve (ask at the circulation desks) in the Ryan and Arrigoni Libraries:

The Little, Brown Handbook. Call #808.042 F 786-6 1995

MLA handbook for writers of research papers. Call #R 808.02 M 68-4

Publication manual of the American Psychological Association.Call #R 150.03 A 51

The Chicago manual of style. 14th ed. Call #808.02 C 53

Or visit Help: Citing Sources.

When you find a WWW site you want to use in your paper, collect the following information:

• the author's name (if known)

• the full title of the document in quotation marks

• the title of the complete work if applicable in italics

• the date of publication or last revision (if available)

• the full http address (URL) enclosed within angle brackets

• the date of visit in parentheses*

7. "This page is best viewed using..."
Incompatibilities in software and equipment between information providers and users can cause variations in what is viewed on the World Wide Web. This can limit the amount of information you receive.

Look at how the author of the WWW site has used the technology.

If the site requires special plug-ins or versions of WWW browsers for viewing that you do not have, you will not access all of the information being offered. You will not access the entire document and therefore cannot completely assess the usefulness and credibility of the site. Authors of WWW pages should consider the technological capabilities of all potential users. Those that do not are more than likely trying to sell a product to a targeted user.

Or, the author is trying to dazzle the user with their technical know-how rather than focus on the information. Sites that are loaded with busy animations, large graphics that are slow to load, and/or screens with multiple frames make getting the information, which may be very worthwhile, time-consuming and annoying.

Visit: The Good, the Bad the Ugly, for examples of the good, the bad and the ugly on the Web.

You can evaluate the information you find on the Web using:

Specific Evaluation Criteria
Website Evaluation Form

 

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