| Summary of Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Pages |
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 Accuracy. If your page lists the author and institution that published the page and provides a way of contacting him/her, and . . .Authority. If your page lists the author credentials and its domain is preferred (edu., gov., org. or .net) and . . .Objectivity. If your page provides accurate information with limited advertising and it is objective in presenting the information, and . . .Currency. If your page is current and updated regularly (as stated on the page) and the links (if any) are also up-to-date, and . . .Coverage. If you can view the information properly--not limited to fees, browser technology, or software requirement, then . . .You may have a higher quality Web page that could be of value to your research! |
| Quote from CR&L News article, July/August 1998, p. 523 |
| An Example of Criteria Used by Librarians to Evaluate Reference Web Sites |
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 Quality, depth and usefulness of content clear statement of the content, including any intended biases provides appropriate links to other Web sites attention to detail; absence of grammatical errors, absence of spelling errors, and so on Uniqueness of content - - Currency of content uniqueness of the resource as a whole; creativity links are kept up-to-date update frequency is appropriate for the subject matter Authority of producer authority and legality clearly stated if not easily recognizable, an explanation of the history and purpose of the organization Ease of Use - - Customer Service user-friendly design; easy navigation good search engine attractive; graphic design leaves good impression easy output (downloading or printing) contacts are responsive; e-mail addresses readily available Efficiency [note: efficiency is affected by a user's method
of Internet access] graphics load quickly or are not so intensive as to seriously degrade access any required plug-ins are available for easy download realiable, speedy server Appropriate use of the Web as a medium components are well integrated (audio, video, text, and so on) useful information is still available, even if the user does not have all the
plug-ins and media components effective use of Java and other technologies |
| Based on the article Best Free Reference Web Sites, Seventh Annual List which appeared in Reference & User Services Quarterly Vol. 45, #1, Fall 2005, p. 39 |
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