Evaluating Web Sites for Educational Uses

This site contains a list of articles from librarians and other information specialists on Web evaluations. In addition, a checklist for evaluating a Web site of as a potential education resource is included.
http://www.unc.edu/cit/guides/irg-49.html

Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators - Critical Evaluation Surveys

A series of website evaluation surveys, one each at the elementary, middle, and secondary school levels, plus many links of website evaluation.
http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/eval.html

Evaluating Internet Resources

Bullet point notes of strategies and factors to consider when evaluating resources.
http://library.albany.edu/internet/evaluate.html

Evaluating Web Sites

A brief introduction to the World Wide Web as a source of information, and evaluating sites for educational content.
http://www.ehhs.cmich.edu/~pstohrer/eval.html

The Internet Guide to Construction of Quality Online Resources

By Dr. T.Matthew Ciolek. Online resources relevant for evaluation, development and administration of high quality factual/scholarly networked information systems.
http://www.ciolek.com/WWWVL-InfoQuality.html

Evaluating Quality on the Net

Criteria and indicators for evaluating information found on sites, their quality, and reliability.
http://www.hopetillman.com/findqual.html

10 C's For Evaluating Internet Sources

Criteria to consider when evaluating Internet resources.
http://www.uwec.edu/library/Guides/tencs.html

Using a Web Site With Your Classes

Looks at what teachers need consider before sharing a web site with students in their classrooms.
http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/web_classes/

Choice Framework

Developed to evaluate the quality of health-related websites aimed primarily at online health consumers. Evaluation criteria fall under the headings of Credibility, Content, Disclosure, Links, Design, Interactivity, Caveats and Differentiation.
http://www.geocities.com/choiceframework/

Webpage Evaluation for Librarians

Checklist and examples of what to look for, how to think, related links, and examples of deliberately misleading webpages.
http://www.lib.montana.edu/~bcoon/web-eval.html

Web Searching, Web Page Evaluation, and Research Strategies

A guide to Web research and evaluation strategies, written for first year rhetoric and composition students.
http://www.slu.edu/departments/english/research/

How To Evaluate A Web Site

Checklists and sample sites, from LLRX.com.
http://www.llrx.com/features/webeval.htm

Getting It Right: Verifying Sources on the Net

LLRX.com article providing strategies and tools to assist in evaluating Website content.
http://www.llrx.com/features/verifying.htm

Resource Selection and Information Evaluation

Three questions to answer while evaluating information and resources.
http://alexia.lis.uiuc.edu/~janicke/Evaluate.html

Caught in the Web

A journalist's guide to web searches. Covers when to use the library, obstacles to finding what you need on the web (including unreliable information), tips for searching, and links to content-rich sites.
http://newslink.org/web/

Web Page Evaluation

Provides a checklist and links to related materials.
http://www.hu.mtu.edu/teachtech/search2.htm

Evaluating Internet Research Sources

Guidelines for evaluating Internet sources, including a checklist to help assure credibility, accuracy, reasonableness, and supported claims.
http://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm

WWW Cyberguides

Created by a library media specialist, contains guides for rating the curriculum content and graphic design of web sites.
http://www.cyberbee.com/guides.html

UCLA College Library: Thinking Critically about WWW Resources

Teaches the user how to think critically about World Wide Web resources.
http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/critical/index.htm

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, or Why It's a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Sources

Contains evaluation criteria with examples that can be used by educators. Gives suggestions for successful Internet assignments.
http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/eval.html

Evaluate your Sources

Checklist for judging reliability of information. Links to other sites about the topic.
http://www.library.vcu.edu/help/evaluate.html

Evaluating the Quality of Information on the Internet

Checklists, instructions, tools and links to legal and factual research.
http://www.virtualchase.com/quality/

Evaluating Quality

Questions to ask and tips for looking for authoritative information on the internet.
http://www.walthowe.com/navnet/quality.html

Producing Quality Web Page Content

Article explains how to give a web page content the mark of quality. Conversely, it helps point out what to look for in a quality site.
http://www.walthowe.com/pubweb/qcontent/qcontent.html

Evaluating Electronic Resources

Suggested criteria for evaluating Web resources for e-libraries.
http://www.thelearningsite.net/cyberlibrarian/elibraries/eval.html

Better Read That Again: Web Hoaxes and Misinformation

Categorizes problematic sites and gives many examples of each type. Ends with a section which points to sites which give people accurate information as well as warnings about hoaxes and half-true stories.
http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/sep00/piper.htm

Publishers Wanted, No Experience Necessary: Information Quality on the Web

Research librarian elaborates on five characteristics of superior web sites: timeliness, expediency, accuracy, objectivity, and authenticity
http://www.llrx.com/columns/quality.htm

The Quality Information Checklist

Eight ways of checking information on web sites.
http://www.quick.org.uk/menu.htm

Testing the Surf: Criteria for Evaluating Internet Information Resources

Refereed article written by Alastair Smith which surveys criteria published on the Web and in the print literature and proposes a set of criteria (a toolbox) that can be used by librarians and users to evaluate Internet information sources.
http://info.lib.uh.edu/pr/v8/n3/smit8n3.html

Don't Believe Everything You Read: Ideas for Reading Critically

Short pdf file. Suggestions for evaluating anything you read.
http://www.iusb.edu/~libg/pdf/critical-reading.pdf

Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply and Questions to Ask

Includes checklist form (PDF) that can be used to analyze web sites and pages.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html

Evaluating Credibility of Information on the Internet

An essay that considers peer review, author's credentials, writing style, and plausibility of information.
http://www.rbs0.com/credible.pdf

Evaluating Web Sites

Seeks to provide the necessary guidelines to use to determine the quality and accuracy of the information found on the World Wide Web. A document from the University of Maryland libraries.
http://www.lib.umd.edu/UES/evaluate.html

Information Quality

Sections on gaining full access to materials which may be censored, understanding how to search, and evaluating what is found using the internet.
http://ils.unc.edu/~fents/310/

Web Awareness Canada

Introduction to a program which provides resources about Internet Literacy for teachers, parents and librarians.
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/special_initiatives/web_awareness/index.cfm

Web Page Evaluation Checklist

PDF document intended to be printed to use as a quick tool for page evaluation.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/EvalForm.pdf

Checklist for the Evaluation of Information

Printable form with hyperlinks to explanations of the criteria used, namely authority, content and scope, design and functionality.
http://www3.baylor.edu/~Billie_Peterson/checklist.html

Resource Evaluation for BIOME

Detailed criteria used for selecting resources for this UK guide to biomedical information.
http://biome.ac.uk/guidelines/eval/

An Educators' Guide to Credibility and Web Evaluation

Paper/course written in 1999 with a 2002 update. Covers why evaluate, methods of evaluation, and why and how to teach it in the schools.
http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/wp/credibility/index.html

Consumer WebWatch

Consumers WebWatch, a project of Consumers Union, publishes research and journalism on credibility issues that matter to consumers, and recommends Web-wide guidelines to address widespread problems of credibility and trust.
http://www.consumerwebwatch.org/

Consumer Reports: e-Ratings - What We Look For

Expectations for site credibility, usability, and content.
http://www.consumerreports.org/main/detailv2.jsp?WebLogicSession=P9VN6U9v2ZeILeW6GjX2zjTIBlAwQRt3o1TP0qE0ashSj3EbU9uG%7C4394362522231317306/169937904/6/7005/7005/7002/7002/7005/-1%7C2869650293279058925/169937910/6/7005/7005/7002/7002/7005/-1&CONTENT%3C%3E

Librarians' Index to the Internet - Selection Criteria

Describes how sites are chosen for listing in lii.org.
http://lii.org/search/file/pubcriteria

University of Alberta Libraries - Critical Evaluation of Resources on the Internet

Bulleted list of questions to review while checking out a website.
http://www.library.ualberta.ca/guides/criticalevaluation/

Johns Hopkins University Library - Evaluating Internet information

Detailed list of considerations.
http://www.library.jhu.edu/elp/useit/evaluate/

Information Quality WWW Virtual Library - Evaluation of Information Sources

Large annotated and hyperlinked list of pointers to criteria for evaluating information resources, particularly those on the Internet. Maintained by Alastair Smith.
http://www2.vuw.ac.nz/staff/alastair_smith/evaln/evaln.htm

UBC Library - Criteria for Evaluating Internet Resources

Checklist with "So What?" buttons to clarify why you'd want to have an answer to the various questions.
http://www.library.ubc.ca/home/evaluating/

Emory MedWeb: Guidelines for inclusion of sites in MedWeb

Five criteria used by Medweb to build their directory.
http://www.medweb.emory.edu/MedWeb/history.htm

HealthWeb Selection Methodology & Guidelines

An outline designed to provide HealthWeb participants uniform guidelines for selecting resources to be added to that directory.
http://healthweb.org/guidelines.cfm

Evaluating Web Resources

Concepts and questions to consider when looking at websites as a source of information.
http://libweb.sonoma.edu/assistance/eval.html

National Network of Libaries of Medicine - Evaluating Health Web Sites

Jana Allcock gives tips on judging the accuracy and validity of health information found using the internet.
http://nnlm.gov/scr/conhlth/evalsite.htm

The Good, The Bad And The Useless: Evaluating Internet Resources

Judith Edwards discusses three main aspects in the evaluation of Web resources; access, quality, and ease of use.
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue16/digital/

Webserch - Evaluate Web Resources

Guide to assessing the source, the content, and the format of websites, the primary considerations being accuracy, authority, coverage, currency and objectivity. Checklists in HTML and pdf format available.
http://www.clubi.ie/webserch/resources/

Six Quests for The Electronic Grail: Current Approaches to Information Quality in WWW Resources

T. Matthew Ciolek reviews programming, procedural, structuring, bibliographical, evaluative and finally, organisational approaches to the quality of online information.
http://www.ciolek.com/PAPERS/six-quests1996.html

Contentbank.org - The Search for High-Quality Online Content for Low-Income and Underserved Communities: Evaluating and Producing What's Needed

Research and recommendations to encourage the creation of low-barrier content and the careful evaluation of existing content to ensure that low-income and underserved individuals find a wide array of the online resources they want most. An Issue Brief a
http://www.contentbank.org/addition_research.asp

ISI Web Site Selection Criteria

Thomson ISI sells a product called "Current Web Contents" which includes, in part, a premium collection of evaluated scholarly Web sites. This is how sites are selected for inclusion, and how they're evaluated.
http://www.isinet.com/essays/selectionofmaterialforcoverage/23.html/

Evaluating the Quality of Web Sites

Short page covering some basic points: Who is responsible? Is the URL appropriate? Who do they link to? Who links to them? Use common sense.
http://www.life.uiuc.edu/edtech/evaluate.html

Web of Deception: Misinformation on the Internet

[Book review.] Web of Deception offers an exposé of the types of chicanery, fraud and misinformation that's all over the Internet and suggests what to do if you get stung by it.
http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/2160991

Tips for Evaluating Websites (Ohio ESL)

A few search techniques, using engines like Google, that you can use to check the authority of a website.
http://www.ohiou.edu/esl/help/evalTips.html

Cal Poly State University - Information Competence Tutorials

Nine tutorials provide guidance and practical exercises on information competence.
http://multiweb.lib.calpoly.edu/infocomp/modules/index.html

Web-Based Information in the Context of Higher Education

Scholarly paper argues that higher education students are naïve about the problem of misinformation, believe they can identify it, and do not make extra effort to check the sources of their information. Discusses sources and causes of misinformation an
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/pdfs/17308cb2.pdf

Hoax? Scholarly Research? Personal Opinion? You Decide!

Learn how to evaluate information sources by doing the following exercise.
http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/hoax/index.htm

Criteria for Evaluating Web Sites

Checklist of content and technical aspects to consider.
http://www.evalutech.sreb.org/criteria/web.asp

Searchpath. WNEC Library Tutorial

Tutorial to help learn how to find and critically evaluate information resources. Sponsored by Western Michigan University Libraries.
http://wwwmail.wnec.edu/library/

Critically Analyzing Information Sources

Principles applicable to physical information sources as well as web-based ones.
http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill26.htm

Misinformation Through the Internet

2001 academic conference proceedings; includes summaries (abstracts) of the accepted papers.
http://www.ccsr.cse.dmu.ac.uk/conferences/ccsrconf/ethicomp2001/abstracts/vedder.html

Five Criteria For Evaluating Web Pages

Discusses accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency and coverage.
http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/webcrit.html

Teaching Zack to Think

Article written by Alan November for the September 1998 High School Principal Magazine.
http://www.anovember.com/articles/zack.html

Web Page Evaluation Worksheet

Checklist used to grade web sites.
http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/evaluating_web.htm

Evaluation of Information Sources

Contains pointers to criteria for evaluating information resources, particularly those on the Internet.
http://www.vuw.ac.nz/staff/alastair_smith/evaln/evaln.htm

The Web Credibility Project

Part of the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab, their goal is to understand what leads people to believe what they find on the Web. With information, papers, and related links.
http://credibility.stanford.edu/

Yahooligans! - Evaluating Web Sites

Guide to evaluating sites by the "Four A's" - Accessible, Accurate, Appropriate, and Appealing.
http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/tg/evaluatingwebsites.html

Evaluating World Wide Web Sites

Instructions for completing a form assessing authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency, and coverage.
http://www.iona.edu/library/research/wwweval.htm

Evaluating Information on the Web

Online tutorial covering authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency, and coverage.
http://www.library.drexel.edu/resources/tutorials/webeval/intro.html

T is for Thinking

Web site evaluation guide with resources and links.
http://www.ithaca.edu/library/training/think.html

Exemplary Practices in Teaching Web Evaluation

Presentation given in 1998. Covers why evaluation of web resources is necessary, and gives criteria for scrutinizing web materials. Provides links to many related and supporting sites.
http://lib.nmsu.edu/staff/susabeck/checs98.html

Consumer WebWatch: How Consumers and Experts Rate Credibility on the Web

More than 2,600 average people were asked to rate the credibility of Web sites in 10 content areas.
http://www.consumerwebwatch.org/dynamic/web-credibility-reports-evaluate-abstract.cfm

Cornell University Library - Evaluating Research Materials

Guidance on critical analysis of information sources, distinguishing scholarly and nonscholarly periodicals, and evaluating web sites.
http://www.library.cornell.edu/newhelp/res_strategy/evaluating/index.html

Viewing Results and Evaluating Quality

Questions and criteria to cover. Part of a larger tutorial on effective web searching for college students, written by a research librarian.
http://library.curtin.edu.au/staff/personal/gwpersonal/searchtut/eval.html

Evaluating Web Resources

Modules for evaluating all manner of sites. Includes questions and criteria lists, plus links to example pages for discussion.
http://www.widener.edu/Tools_Resources/Libraries/Wolfgram_Memorial_Library/Evaluate_Web_Pages/659

Research Edge: Evaluate Information

Tutorial from the University of Wollongong Library.
http://www.library.uow.edu.au/helptraining/tutorials/resedge/evaluate.html