Adapted from: Ten
Cs for evaluating internet resources. University of Wisconsin-eau Clare.
updated
9 March 2003
Who is the author? Is there information
about the author? Can you find it?
Who is the author? What qualifications,
education, training, experience, knowledge do they have? Do they
work for a responsible and known organisation?
Do you know how to check the publisher,
ie using domain types, header or footer, watermark or wallpaper, link to
home page etc? What do suffixes like .gov .org tell you about
the source?
| 4 Contact and communication |
Can the author or web coordinator be
contacted for comment or questioning?
Has the site been recommended or reviewed
by someone reliable?
What is the purpose of the information?
eg Is it serious or humorous, professional or amateur?
Is it valid information, or a thinly
disguised commercial?
Is it genuine and trustworthy,
or is it a 'virtual soapbox', mostly opinion, or biased?
Is it fair, offering a balanced
argument, not slanted or selective?
Does it encourage thoughtful assessment,
or are there sweeping statements or excessive claims?
What is the scope? Is the topic covered
in depth? Is it full and comprehensive, or is it trivial?
What is the level? eg Is it too academic,
too complicated, too long?
Do you accept everything, or do you
think about how useful it is first? Can you treat this the same way you
would treat a published book? Does it answer the question, or have you
drifted?
Do you respect the fact that this is
someone's work? Is it stated that it is 'Public domain', or is it protected
by copyright? Do you give credit to the author? Do you keep a record
of the source?
Has the information been updated? Has
it been pruned and 'dusted' so that it is fresh?
Will it continue to be updated? Or
might it be 'orphaned'? Can you rely on it over time?
Does access require special software?
If it is popular, and therefore busy, will it be accessible in the time
you have? Is the site 'viewable' by all web browsers? Do the links still
work?
Is the design appealing, with elegant
simplicity, or is it fussy, crowded, complicated? Do too many fancy or
large graphics make it slow to load? Do special features enhance or hinder?
Search engines can retrieve pages out
of context. Can you return to the home page to determine the source? Has
the author shown where the information came from? Are more links provided?
Does every page have an index, navigation
buttons or links to get around? Is there a site map, table of contents,
or outline of topics? If there is a lot of information, is there a search
function?
Is there a comparable source? Is the
internet version complete, or partial? eg some newspapers.
Are the facts correct? Websites can
contain unchecked information. How will you know?
Are people treated with fairness and
tolerance? Or can you see bias, stereotyping, insults, loaded language,
racism, other 'isms, hurtful ideas? See Checklist
for cultural bias
Has it been proofread, checked and
edited? Is the spelling okay? Is it reliable?
Do you remember to keep an eye open
in case something isn't appropriate for you?
How does internet information fit into
your subject and search? Are you looking for particular kinds of information
eg current, historical, definitions, statistics, narrative, research results
or opinions? Would it be easier to use another source for a particular
question, or does the internet fill a gap?
What students have to say:
Counter.
How popular and well-used is it? Hayasa
Country.
Do
you check the suffix to see where it comes from? eg au, ca
Georgia
Connections.
What other links does the site recommend? Daniel
Copyright.
Has it been copied from other sites? If so, do they give credit?
Alex
Confusion
Will you click the wrong button? Will it lead you somewhere unwanted? Check
before you click. Iona
Chop
and crop. You
can cut the extensions off the
address to find the home page. Ms Macmillan
Is it too complicated?
Is the information at our level, or is it too hard? Maxine
Control
curiosity.
Do you go into sites that have nothing to do with your topic? Stay on track.
Vivienne
Concept
map. Do you have it beside you, to check
and add to? anonymous teacher (AE)
Certainty.
Do
the makers of the website know it is true? Tom
How does it compare
to
other information on the web or in books. Harry
Is it cool,
not crazy? Kenneth
Is it too childish?
Do we get distracted playing games, or are they helping us learn? Karey
Is it creative?
Samantha
Is it compassionate,
kind,
not cruel? Gurjit
Is it consistent?
Do the facts agree with each other, and with facts from other books? Li
References:
adapted with permission from: RICHMOND,
Betsy. Ten
C's for evaluating internet resources. Mcintyre Library, University
of Wisconsin-eau Clare. [Please acknowledge both sources.]
also using A.L.A.
Selection criteria: How to tell if you are looking at a great website
CASE & DANIELS
Critical
challenges about electronic information and research. Vancouver, 1999
CASE, Roland Promoting
critical thinking about information technologies. BC
Teacher-Librarian Conference 1999
Similar sites:
Health Education
Agency The quality information
checklist
see also
our
Checklist for cultural bias
Adapted by Maggie Roche (teacher-librarian),
with permission from Betsy Richmond
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