Evaluating
Internet Based Information

Advocacy Web PageChecklistHow to Recognize an Advocacy PageAn Advocacy Web Page is one sponsored by an organization attempting to influencepublic opinion (that is, one trying to sell ideas). The URL Address of the pagefrequently ends in .org (organization). Examples: National Abortion andReproductive Rights Action League, The National Right to Life Committee, theDemocratic Party, the Republican Party.Questions to Ask About the Web PageNote: The greater number of questions listed below answered "Yes" , the morelikely the source is of high quality. The questions in Bold Type must beanswered "Yes" for the source to be of value in your research.Criterion #1: AUTHORITY    1. Is it clear what organization is sponsoring the page?    2. Is there a link to a page describing the goals of the organization?    3. Is there a way of verifying the legitimacy of this organization? That is,is there a phone number or postal address to contact for more information?(Simply an email address is not enough).    4. Is there a statement that the content of the page has the officialapproval of the organization?    5. Is it clear whether this is a page from the national or local chapter ofthe organization?    6. Is there a statement giving the organization's name as copyright holder?Criterion #2: ACCURACY    1. Are the sources for any factual information clearly listed so they can beverified in another  source? (If not, the page may still be useful to you as an example of the ideas of the organization, but it is not useful as a source of factual information).    2. Is the information free of grammatical, spelling, and other typographicalerrors? (These kinds of errors not only indicate a lack of quality control, but can actually produce inaccuracies ininformation).Criterion #3: OBJECTIVITY    1. Are the organization's biases clearly stated?    2. If there is any advertising on the page, is it clearly differentiatedfrom the informational content?Criterion #4: CURRENCY    1. Are there dates on the page to indicate:        a. When the page was written?        b. When the page was first placed on the Web?        c. When the page was last revised?    2. Are there any other indications that the material is kept current?Criterion #5: COVERAGE    1. Is there an indication that the page has been completed, and is not stillunder construction?    2. Is it clear what topics the page intends to address?    3. Does the page succeed in addressing these topics, or has somethingsignificant been left out?    4. Is the point of view of the organization presented in a clear manner withits arguments well supported?Source: Wolfgram Memorial Library, Widener University, PA.. Widener University,1996. Copyright information: This checklist may be freely reproduced Distributed by Educational Resource Center, MN Dept. of Children, Families & Learning. 5 / 97Business/Marketing Web PageChecklistHow to Recognize a Business/Marketing Web PageA Business/Marketing Web Page is one sponsored by a commercial enterprise(usually it is a page trying to promote or sell products). The URL Address ofthe page frequently ends in .com (commercial). Examples: Adobe Systems, Inc.,The Coca Cola Company, and numerous other large and small companies using theWeb for business purposes.Questions to Ask About the Web PageNote: The greater number of questions listed below answered "Yes", the morelikely the source is of high quality. The questions in Bold Type must beanswered "Yes" for the source to be of value in your research.Criterion #1: AUTHORITY    1. Is it clear what company is sponsoring the page?    2. Is there a link to a page describing the nature of the company, who ownsthe company, and the types of products the company sells?    3. Is there a way of verifying the legitimacy of this company? That is, isthere a phone number or postal address to contact for moreinformation? (Simply an email address is not enough).    4. Is there a way of determining the stability of this company?    5. Is there a statement that the content of the page has the officialapproval of the company?    6. Is there a statement giving the companyˇs name as copyright holder?Criterion #2: ACCURACY    1. Has the company provided a link to outside sources such as productreviews or reports filed with the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) which can be used to verify company claims?    2. Are the sources for any factual information clearly listed so they can beverified in another source?    3. Is the information free of grammatical, spelling, and other typographicalerrors? (These kinds of errors not only indicate a lack of quality control, but can actually produce inaccuracies in information.)Criterion #3: OBJECTIVITY    1. For any given piece of information, is it clear what the company'smotivation is for providing it?    2. If there is any advertising on the page, is it clearly differentiatedfrom the informational content?Criterion #4: CURRENCY    1. Are there dates on the page to indicate:        a. When the page was written?        b. When the page was first placed on the Web?        c. When the page was last revised?    2. Are there any other indications that the material is kept current?    3. For financial information, is there an indication it was filed with theSEC and is the filing date listed?    4. For material from the company's annual report, is the date of the reportlisted?Criterion #5: COVERAGE    1. Is there an indication that the page has been completed, and is not stillunder construction?    2. If describing a product, does the page include an adequately detaileddescription of the product?Source: Wolfgram Memorial Library, Widener University, PA.. Widener University,1996.Informational Web PageChecklistHow to Recognize an Information Web PageAn Informational Web Page is one whose purpose is to present factualinformation. The URL Address frequently ends in .edu or .gov, as many of thesepages are sponsored by educational institutions or government agencies.Examples: Dictionaries, thesauri, directories, transportation schedules,calendars of events, statistical data, and other factual information such asreports, presentations of research, or information about a topic.Questions to Ask About the Web PageNote: The greater the number of questions listed below answered "Yes", the morelikely the source is of high quality. The questions in Bold Type must beanswered "Yes" for the source to be of value in your research.Criterion #1: AUTHORITY    1. Is it clear who is sponsoring the page?    2. Is there a link to a page describing the purpose of the sponsoringorganization?    3. Is there a way of verifying the legitimacy of the pageˇs sponsor? Thatis, is there a phone number or postal address to contact for more information? (Simply an email address is not enough).    4. Is it clear who wrote the material and are the author's qualificationsfor writing on this topic clearly stated?    5. If the material is protected by copyright, is the name of the copyrightholder given?Criterion #2: ACCURACY    1. Are the sources for any factual information clearly listed so they can beverified in another source?    2. Is the information free of grammatical, spelling, and other typographicalerrors? (These kinds of  errors not only indicate a lack of quality control, but can actually produce inaccuracies in information).    3. Is it clear who has the ultimate responsibility for the accuracy of thecontent of the material?    4. If statistical data is presented in graphs and/or charts, are theyclearly labeled and easy to read?Criterion #3: OBJECTIVITY    1. Is the information provided as a public service?    2. Is the information free of advertising?    3. If there is any advertising on the page, is it clearly differentiatedfrom the informational content?Criterion #4: CURRENCY    1. Are there dates on the page to indicate:        a. When the page was written?        b. When the page was first placed on the Web?        c. When the page was last revised?    2. Are there any other indications that the material is kept current?    3. If material is presented in graphs and/or charts, is it clearly statedwhen the data was gathered?    4. If the information is published in different editions, is it clearlylabeled what edition the page is from?Criterion #5: COVERAGE    1. Is there an indication that the page has been completed, and is not stillunder construction?    2. If there is a print equivalent to the Web page, is there a clear indication of whether the entire work is available on the Web or only parts of it?    3. If the material is from a work which is out of copyright (as is often thecase with a dictionary or thesaurus) has there been an effort to update the material to make it more current?Source: Wolfgram Memorial Library, Widener University, PA.. Widener University,1996.Copyright information: This checklist may be freely Distributed by Educational Resource Center, MN Dept. of Children, Families & Learning. 5 / 97News Web PageHow to Recognize a News Web PageA News Web Page is one whose primary purpose is to provide extremely currentinformation. The URL Address of the page usually ends in .com (commercial).Example: USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, CNN.Questions to Ask About the Web PageNote: The greater the number of questions listed below answered "Yes", the morelikely the source is of high quality. The questions in Bold Type must beanswered "Yes" for the source to be of value in your research.Criterion #1: AUTHORITY    1. Is it clear what company is sponsoring the page?    2. Is there a link to a page describing the goals of the company?    3. Is there a way of verifying the legitimacy of the page's sponsor? Thatis, is there a phone number or postal address to contact for moreinformation? (Simply an email address is not enough).    4. Is there a non-Web equivalent version of this material which wouldprovide a way of verifying its legitimacy?    5. If the page contains an individual article, do you know who wrote thearticle and his or her qualifications for writing on this topic?    6. Is it clear who is ultimately responsible for the content of thematerial?    7. Is there a statement giving the company's name as copyright holder?Criterion #2: ACCURACY    1. Are sources for factual information clearly listed so they can beverified in another source?    2. Are there editors monitoring the accuracy of the information beingpublished?    3. Is the information free of grammatical, spelling, and other typographicalerrors? (These kinds of errors not only indicate a lack of qualitycontrol, but can actually produce inaccuracies in information).Criterion #3: OBJECTIVITY    1. Is the informational content clearly separated from the advertising andopinion content?    2. Are the editorials and opinion pieces clearly labeled?Criterion #4: CURRENCY    1. Is there a link to an informational page which describes how frequentlythe material is updated?    2. Is there an indication of when the page was last updated?    3. Is there a date on the page to indicate when the page was placed on theWeb?        a. If a newspaper, does it indicate what edition of the paper the pagebelongs to?        b. If a broadcast, does it indicate the date and time the information onthe page was originally broadcast?Criterion #5: COVERAGE    1. Is there a link to an informational page which describes the coverage ofthe source?    2. If you are evaluating a newspaper page and there is a print equivalent,is there an indication of whether the Web coverage is more or lessextensive than the print version?Source: Wolfgram Memorial Library, Widener University, PA.. Widener University,1996.Copyright information: This checklist may be freely Distributed by Educational Resource Center, MN Dept. of Children, Families & Learning. 5 / 97Personal Home PageChecklistHow to Recognize a Personal Home PageA Personal Home Page is one published by an individual who may or may not beaffiliated with a larger institution. Although the URL Address of the page mayhave a variety of endings (e.g. .com, .edu, etc.), a tilde (~) is frequentlyembedded somewhere in the URL.Questions to Ask About the Web PageNote: The greater the number of questions listed below answered $yes$, the morelikely the source is of high quality. The questions in Bold Type must beanswered $yes$ for the source to be of value in your research.Criterion #1: AUTHORITY   1. Is it clear what individual is responsible for the page?    2. Does the individual responsible for the page indicate his or herqualifications for writing on this topic?    3. Is there a way of verifying the legitimacy of this individual? (Theanswer to this question is probably almost always "No". Thus, personalhome pages can rarely be used as a source for factual information,although they can be a useful source for personal opinions.)Criterion #2: ACCURACY    1. Are the sources for any factual information clearly listed so they can beverified in another  source? (If not, the page may still be useful to you as an example of the ideas of the individual, but it is not useful as a source of factual information.)    2. Is the information free of grammatical, spelling, and other typographicalerrors? (These kinds of errors not only indicate a lack of qualitycontrol, but can actually produce inaccuracies in information).Criterion #3: OBJECTIVITY    1. Are the person's biases clearly stated?Criterion #4: CURRENCY    1. Are there dates on the page to indicate:        a. When the page was written?        b. When the page was first placed on the Web?        c. When the page was last revised?    2. Are there any other indications that the material is kept current?Criterion #5: COVERAGE    1. Is there an indication that the page has been completed, and is not stillunder construction?Source: Wolfgram Memorial Library, Widener University, PA.. Widener University,1996.Copyright information: This checklist may be freely copied and distributedprovided that it is used for educational purposes only, and credit is given toWolfgram Memorial Library, Widener University, Chester, PA. Distributed byEducational Resource Center, MN Dept. of Children, Families & Learning. 5/97

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