Web Site Evaluation: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

More and more information is making its way on to the Web. However, because the Web contains so much data, it has become increasingly difficult to judge whether or not the information you find is useful. Listed below are some tips for evaluating information that you locate on the Web as well as examples of good, bad, and just plain ugly Web sites

How Do You Know If the Information on a Web Page Is Good or Bad?

This is where your critical thinking skills come in to play. You can’t take information or data you find on a Web page at face value! To determine whether or not the information you have located is reliable, you must look closely at your information and ask yourself some essential questions. For example:

	Is there an author(s)? If so, what are her/his qualifications?
	Is it possible to contact the author(s) to check the validity of the information?
	Is the information current?
	Is the information cited? If so, do the citations appear to be legitimate?
	How in-depth is the information? Is it comprehensive?
	Does the data appear to be accurate?
	Does the data show any bias?
	Is the Web page grammatically correct and free of spelling errors?
	What is the domain name suffix of the Web page (.com, .edu, .gov)?

Now take a look at some good, bad, & ugly Web pages/sites and see what you think. Do you agree that they are good, bad, or ugly? Why or why not? Bear in mind that:

	Anyone can create or host a Web page
	There is no official body, such as the US Government, that oversees or polices the content on Web pages
	Search engines are not capable of locating all the information that is available on the Internet
	All of the world's information is not available online. The overwhelming majority of information found in libraries and archives is not available via the Web

The Good

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• The Salary Calculator
• Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
• U.S. and World Population Clocks - POPClocks

The Bad (and/or Silly!)

• The AntiAging & Longevity Project
• California's Velcro Crop Under Challenge
• The Death Clock (compare with Alliance for Aging Research)
• Feline Reactions to Bearded Men
• Mankato, MN
• Overpopulation.Com
• The True but Little Known Facts about Women and AIDS
• Uncyclopedia

The Ugly

• Did Six Million Really Die?
• Martin Luther King Jr.: An Historical Examination

Here are some sites that contain additional useful tips for evaluating Web pages:

• A Guide to Critical Thinking About What You See on the Web
• Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources
• Web Evaluation Criteria

http://proche.org/webevaluation.htm