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Evaluation of Internet Sources
K. Thulasi
National Centre for Science Information (NCSI)
Indian Institute of Science
Bangalore - 560 012
(E-Mail: [email protected])
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Evaluation of Internet Sources Introduction
Why Evaluate?
Criteria for evaluating Internet Sources- Purpose
- Scope/Coverage/Comprehensiveness
- Authority
- Audience
- Information content
- Design and layout
- Access/Workability
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Introduction
The availability and growth of the Internet offersall of us, the opportunity to find information and
data from all over the world. Internet resources, in particular World Wide Web
resources, continue to proliferate at an astonishingrate.
Some experts say that a new site is placed onlineevery 3 seconds!!
It is possible for almost anyone to place anythingon the Internet
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Introduction Companies, organizations, educational
institutions, communities and individual people all
serve as information providers for the electronicInternet community.
This sharing of resources and information is an
example of societal cooperation on a grand scale
and has fostered professional and personal
communications throughout the world.
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Why Evaluate ?
When we use a research or academic library, the books,
journals and other resources have already been evaluated by
a librarian or by a mechanism set up by a librarian.
When we use an index or a database to find information on
any given topic, the index or database is often produced bya professional or scholarly organization that selects the
journals to be indexed on the basis of their quality.
Every resource we find has been evaluated in one way or
another, before we ever see it.
When we are using the World Wide Web, none of this
applies.
There are no filters in between us and the Internet.
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Why Evaluate?
Now that anyone with access to a server and a passingknowledge of HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) can
put information on the Internet, the problem has becomeone of sifting through a mass of advertising material andvanity publications in order to find information of high
quality. Information can be spread over the Internet by anyone
without regard to accuracy, validity, or bias.
Due to its global structure, which encompasses a variety oflegal systems and cultures, it is unlikely any one individual
or nation will be able to significantly influence, regulate, orchange the chaotic state of flux that characterizes theWorld Wide Web.
So using and citing information found over the Web is alittle like swimming on a beach without a lifeguard
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Why Evaluate?
Hence there is a need for librarians to evaluate Internetinformation sources in order to decide whether an Internetinformation source should be linked to a resource guide orlibrary Web site,
To judge the quality or appropriateness of information fora particular query or user.
Many libraries now maintain Web sites that have lists ofInternet information resources.
The development of subject resource guides is seen as a
logical role for librarians, extending to the onlineenvironment the traditional librarian's role of evaluating,selecting, and organizing published information.
It is part of the job of many of us - librarians orinformation managers - to select what our users will find
useful from this mass of information.
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Why Evaluate?
How do we decide whether or not to add details of anInternet site to our resource guide or Web page?
How can we judge the quality or appropriateness of aresource for a particular query or user?
What criteria should we use when recommending Internet
resources to an individual or class? Although many of the traditional principles of collection
development of printed materials will still apply to onlineresources, other factors come into play when consideringthe electronic medium.
For librarians and library users to make effective use of theInternet, they need criteria to use in evaluating theinformation found.
Without explicit criteria for selection of these sources,
libraries risk wasting their users' time with tools of dubiousvalue.
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Criteria for evaluating Internet
ResourcesResources should be evaluated on the basis of the
following broad levels of analysis:
Purpose
What is the purpose of the resource?
Resource should make their purpose obvious at first sight.
Does the site promote a product?
Does the resource fulfill the stated purpose?
If a site provides its own mission statement, the user can
verify whether the content matches this statement
A good resource will not be ambiguous and will not deflect
potential users, due to its poor communication of purpose.
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Scope
Is coverage integral, or is the resource part of a
greater whole? Does the resource contain substantive information
or is it simply a list of links?
Is the site intended to be comprehensive or
selective? Does the actual scope of the resource match
expectations?
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Authority
Author
Is Author/Producer identifiable?
Does Author/Producer has expertise on the subject as
indicated on a credentials page? What are the author's professional affiliations?
Can the author be contacted for clarification or to be
informed of new information?
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Authority
Resource
Is the information credible and of high quality?
Is the information objective?
Is there an obvious bias? Is this site designed forpromotional purposes?
How long has a resource been available (either in print
or as an electronic version)?
Is the information verifiable? Does the resource document the sources the
information is based on and how that information was
obtained?
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AuthorityResource
Is the material available in other forms, such as CD-ROM or print? If so, does the Internet resource offer thesame material, or more, or less? This will becomeincreasingly important with, for example,new
electronic-only journals. The site should have the confidence to offer a feedbackfacility such as a form, preferably with e-mail and
postal addresses as well
Is the resource sponsored in any way or funded by
grants? If copyright is an issue for the particular resource, the
site should include the name of the copyright holder.
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AuthorityResources
Has the site been favourably reviewed by a browser or
other Internet reviewing agency?
If the resource includes e-mail discussion list or
newsgroup or e-journal, have they been moderated,
refereed or indexed?
Does a recognised professional association or aspecialist information service link to the resource?
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Audience
Who are the intended users of this resource?
At what level is the resource pitched: a subject expert, a
layperson, or a school student? Will the resource satisfy the needs of the intended users?
Does your user group correspond to the intended audience?
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Information content
Accuracy Is the information in the resource accurate? - You may
wish to check this against other resources, or by
checking some information about which you have
special knowledge. Is the origin of the content documented? Are facts
verifiable and accurate?
Is the information factual, or opinion? - Can its
objectivity be assessed?
Are there political or ideological biases?
Objective, correct, referenced, or professionally
sponsored information is a mark of accuracy
Is a subject specialist available who could advise as to
the accuracy of information content?
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Information Content
Currency
If a resource is meant to be updated regularly, how
reliable is the updating?
Different parts of web sites may be updated at different
times For example, e-journals, news sections,
bulletin boards, and any section dedicated to new
information should be updated fairly frequently
Does the organisation or person hosting the resource
appear to have a commitment to ongoing maintenanceand stability of the resource?
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Information ContentCurrency
Fast moving fields produce more new information and
need more frequent updates.
A six month interval is the maximum acceptable period
between updates regardless of discipline.
Does the site evolve over time, or would one visit besufficient?
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Information Content
Uniqueness Is the resource original, or has it been derived from
other sources?
Is the information in this resource available in otherforms (for example other sites, Gopher, WWW, print,
CD-ROM)? What advantages does this particularresource have?
If the resource is derived from another format, forexample print, does it have all the features of theoriginal?
-Have extra features been added?
-Does it complement another resource, for instanceby providing updates to a print source?
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Information Content
Uniqueness
Does the Internet site contain comparable and complete
information? For example, some newspapers have
partial but not full text information on the Internet A particular site may not be available when required,
and an alternative or mirror site may have to be used
Redundancy may be valuable on the Internet
What do other reviewing services say about the site? Librarians in the Internet environment will need to
become familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of
the range of sources reviewing Internet resources
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Quality of writing
Is the text well written?
While hypertext linking and multimedia are important
elements of the Web, the bulk of the information content
on the Web still lies in text, and quality of writing isimportant for the content to be communicated clearly.
Does the text follow basic rules of grammar, spelling and
literary composition?
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Design and layout
Organization
Are the resources well organized and logically
presented?
Are the individual Web pages concise, or do you haveto scroll forever?
How big is the resource? - If a resource is particularly
large, it should really be sensibly and logically divided
into unique and separate segments of information withgood navigation links between each segment.
Does the design promote understanding of the content?
Is a text-only version available?
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Organization Is the organisational scheme appropriate, for example
chronological for an historical source, or geographical
for a regional resource?
Are menus, headings and formatting used effectively?
Is the balance of links and text good? - A Web
document that has a vast tree of links is difficult to
navigate and overwhelming to the eye.
Is there a consistent look and feel from one page to
another? - Visual similarities in all sections
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Navigability
Can you find your way around and easily locate a
particular page from any other page?
Are there enough internal links?
If the value of the site lies in its links to other resources,are the links kept up to date, and made to appropriate
resources?
Is navigation through the site logical?
A good resource should encourage seamless movementbetween sections of data.
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Navigability Are there good back and forward links between pages?
Are links relevant to the topic/category?
Do essential instructions appear before links andinteractive portions?
Is it obvious when you move to a new site, or does anoutside link appear internal?
Can you "back" out of the site, or do you get stuck
looping between pages? Is an indication of size provided in kilobytes where a
link leads to large volumes of data (text, images, video,or voice)?
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Style & Functionality
Functionality is of primary importance - Is the general
layout of a resource functional?
Whatever the level of technology employed, it must
function well and allow the user to progress logically
through the information.
Is the overall design of the site aesthetically pleasing?
Is a choice of display formats available?
A very simple, classic design can appeal as much as a
clever, graphically innovative one
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Colour Are the text and background colour choices contrasting
enough for the text to be easily read?
Is the background plain enough for the text to be easilyread?
Are backgrounds or other visual elements distracting or
cluttered?
Is the page cluttered?
Or does it include too much blank space which makes
printing costly?
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Graphics Does the document follow good graphic design
principles?
Are the graphics clear and representative? Are the graphics functional or decorative?
Do the icons clearly represent what is intended?
Are the graphics too complex and make the page
frustratingly slow to load up or to print?
Are images used appropriately (eg are thumbnail
images used)?
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Multimedia If the site is multimedia, consider creativity,
quality of the image and sound, and interactivity.
If audio, video, virtual reality modeling, etc areused, are they appropriate to the purpose of the
source?
Good web sites weave together relevant text,
audio, video, and still images to give users a rich
experience
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Ease of use For interactive sites, such as databases and search
engines, it is vital that 'Help' on how to use the system
is readily available
How usable is the site? Can visitors get the information
they need within a reasonable number of links -preferably 3 or fewer clicks
Does it encourage you to explore further? - A good
resource should encourage exploration
Are there single document options for those resourcesthat may be printed?
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Ease of use.. Users are likely to visit a site again only if they enjoy
using it.
In the case of compressed files, is it clear how to gainaccess to the files?
An issue in providing access to electronic documents is
whether a library should just provide links to the
originating site, or "acquire" the publication for local
access.
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Searchability/Site search engine
Is a simple search facility available?
How effectively can information be retrieved from
the resource?
Is a full complement of search options available? -Eg use of Boolean logic for search term
combination, truncation, adjacency and proximity
searching, field searching, keyword searching,
case sensitivity
Are any special search features available? Eg
access to a thesaurus of terms to choose from
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Searchability
For a database resource can a search session be maintained?
can search sets be created and combined?
is the search interface resilient
is the search speed acceptable?
What operators and ranking features are available?
Is the search engine interface intuitive?
Does the search engine index the whole resource?
Where interactive features such as forms, cgiscripts etc are provided, do these work?
Are there links to search engines or is a searchengine attached to (embedded in) the Web site?
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Required computer environment
Browsability Is the resource viewable effectively (i.e., without loss of
essential information and navigability) in non-graphical
browsers - Lynx
If Java or ActiveX, extensions like frames, or plug-ins areemployed, do they actually improve the site? How do they
affect users with older browsers?
A good resource should be compatible with all Internet
browsers. Are there alternative options for those WWW resources
which contain Netscape specific features such as tables?
The information may be significantly altered or affected
when viewed in a non-Netscape browser
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Browsability
It is useful to test resources with a variety ofbrowsers and connections.
Telnet resources may pose problems to users who have
not installed a telnet client.
Images and other multimedia may create problems if
users have not installed the correct viewer.
While the extent to which older browsers are still used
is a source of argument, there are still Lynx only users,
frames challenged users, visually impaired users outthere, and sites should attempt to cater for them.
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Connectivity
If more than one user will need to access a site,consider each users' access and "functionality."
How do users connect to the Internet and whatkind of connection does the assigned resource
require? Does access to the resource require a graphical
user interface?
If it is a popular (busy) resource, will it be
accessible in the time frame needed?
Is it accessible by more than one Internet tool?
Do users have access to the same Internet toolsand applications?
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Connectivity
Are users familiar with the tools and applications? Can the resource be accessed reliably, or is it
frequently overloaded or offline?
Is a local mirror site available, or do international
traffic charges have to be incurred? How long does it take to download? - Particularly
one which heavily relies on graphics, is aparticularly long textual document, or is a large
piece of software. Provide a warning to indicate itssize and potential transfer time.
Currently Internet information resources areperceived as being "free".
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Cost/charging policy
Costs do exist, can be divided into (a)Traffic charges - costs of connecting to the resource
and
(b) Costs associated with the use of the intellectualproperty contained in the resource.
How do charges compare with alternative sources?
If a resource is freeware, is there also a sharewareor a full cost version?
If a dataset is available for free, is there a fullersuperset available for a fee?
Libraries have a role in negotiating subscriptionsand site licenses for organisational access tocharged services
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Copyright/Censorship/Encryption
Does your institution, based on its mission, parentorganization or space limitations, apply somerestrictions to Internet use
Is the information in the public domain and free
from copyright restrictions? A special mention should be made if resources
are freely available for reuse
Is further distribution or reuse restricted?
When it is necessary; to send confidentialinformation out over the Internet, is encryption(i.e., a secure coding system) available? Howsecure is it?
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Copyright Even if the copyright notice does not appear
prominently, someone wrote, or is responsible for,the creation of a document, graphic, sound orimage, and the material falls under the copyrightconventions.
Internet users, as users of print media, mustrespect copyright and should consider censorshipand privacy issues
Are interactions secured if they involve privateinformation?
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Language
Is the standard of HTML coding indicated? In what language is the site written?
If the site is offered in translation, is thetranslation accurate?
Is the resource entirely in English? Is a significant part of the resource available in
English?
Is it available in other languages as well?
Is a special character set in use?
If particular fonts are required to read a resource,then this should be mentioned in the resourcedescription.
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User support
Is it available free or at a nominal cost?
Are search aids available?
Do news items point to useful features, as well asto temporary availability problems?
Is there a user discussion list which can provide
support?
Is there a user group which can take forward user
suggestions?
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Criteria Used by Internet
Evaluation Sites A number of resources on the Internet evaluate
sites for selection, review, or rating.
Some of them were studied to identify the list of
criteria used by them as most popular to evaluate
other resources.
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Criteria used
Best of 1996 Social Sciences, Humanities &Asian-Pacific Studies WWW Resources
The Argus Clearinghouse
CyberHound
CyberStacks Infofilter
The Internet Public Library
Magellan Internet Guide
Sitegrade Stevie's WWW Ratings
Criteria Used to Select Links for Resources'Catalogues: a Collaborative Gathering of Thoughts andIdeas
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Criteria
This indicates that appearance is widely regarded as
important, even among sites that are primarily concerned
with content.
The organization of the site and ease with which users can
find their way around are also seen as important in the
Internet environment.
All evaluation sites included some aspect of content and
workability.
The traditional reference librarian's criteria of currency,
authority, and audience are also widely used.
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Related References
Alastair Smith - Criteria for evaluation of Internet InformationResources/ www.vuw.ac.nz/~agsmith/evaln/index.htm
Ann Scholz, Rutgers University Libraries - Evaluating World Wide
Web Information Carolyn Caywood- library
http://crab.rutgers.edu/~scholzcr/eval.html
Selection Criteria for WWW Resources/ -www6.pilot.infi.net/~carolyn/criteria.html
Elizabeth Kirk, Johns Hopkins University - Evaluating information
found on the Internet/
http://milton.mse.jhu.edu:8001/research/education/net.html
Esther Grassian, UCLA College Library - Thinking Critically aboutWorld Wide Web Resources
www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/instruct/critical.htm
Hope Tillman - Evaluating quality on the net/
www.tiac.net/users/hope/findqual.html
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Related References
Julie Kwan, Science & Engineering Library, University ofSouthern California, November 1993 - Criteria forEvaluating Information Resources www-lib.usc.edu/Info/Sci/pubs/criteval.html
Lisa Janicke - Resource selection and information
evaluation.http://alexia.lis.uiuc.edu/~janicke/Evaluate.html
Robert Harris, Southern California College. EvaluatingInternet Research Sources.www.sccu.edu/faculty/R_Harris/evalu8it.htm
Sandra Wittman Evaluating Web Siteswww.oakton.edu/~wittman/find/eval.htm
William Trochim Evaluating Websiteshttp://trochim.human.cornell.edu/webeval/webeval.htm
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Related References
Evaluating Web Sites: Criteria and Tools Part of a CornellUniversity site on carrying out research.
www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/research/webeval.html
Criteria Used to Select Links for Resources' Catalogues: a
collaborative gathering of thoughts and ideas.www.ciolek.com/WWWVLPages/QltyPages/QltyLinks.html
Scout Report Selection Criteria: Detailed criteria used by this
widely regarded current awareness service.
wwwscout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/criteriatxt.html
University of Georgia project Evaluating the Quality of
Internet Information Sources
http://itech1.coe.uga.edu/Faculty/gwilkinson/webeval.html