Whittemore Library
Request More Information
Apply Now
Social Media

Evaluation of Internet Information Resources: A Checklist


Authority

  • Who is the author? Is it clear?
  • What are the author's credentials-education, experience?
  • Is the book or article written in the author's area of expertise?
  • Is there a reputable organization behind the author?
  • Can the author be contacted for more questions? Is there an address or e-mail of the author?

Accuracy

  • What method of obtaining data or conducting research was employed by the author?
  • Is the information presented with a minimum of bias?
    Does the author cite or quote authorities on the subject?
  • Is the information in the source accurate? Check the information against other resources.
  • Is the information verifiable?

Content

  • What is the author's purpose for writing this information?
  • What is the purpose of the site?
  • What is the intended audience?
  • Is the information factual, or opinion?
  • Does the site contain original information or simply links?
  • Is the information abstracted from another source or is it in full text?
  • Are all aspects of the subject covered?
  • To what level of detail in the subject does the resource go?
  • Is the information in the resource limited to certain time periods?
  • How unique is this resource? Is the information in this resource available in other formats?
  • What is the quality of writing? Is the content communicated clearly?

Currency

  • How frequently is the resource updated, or is it a static resource?
  • Is the site stable? Does the organization hosting this information have a long term commitment?

Graphics & Multimedia Design

  • Is the resource interesting to look at? Do the visual effects enhance the resource or distract from the content?
  • Are audio, video, etc., appropriate to the purpose of the site?

Reviews

  • What do other reviewing services say about the site?

Workability

  • Is the resource convenient and easy to use?
  • Is the site user friendly?
  • Is the resource convenient and easy to use?
  • Is help information available?
  • Does the resource require a special computing environment or can it be accessed with standard equipment?
  • How effectively can information be retrieved from the resource? Is the resource organized in a logical manner?
  • Can the resource be browsed? Is there a logical structure and organization?
  • Is the resource interactive? Are there features such as forms provided? Do they add value to the site?
  • Is the resource easy to connect to. Does it require special software, password, or network requirements?

Cost

  • Is there any cost for using the resource?

Some information extracted and reorganized from Alastair Smith (VUW Department of Library and Information Studies, New Zealand) Criteria for Evaluation of Internet Information Resources, 1997.

Framingham State University

100 State Street

PO Box 9101

Framingham, MA 01701-9101

|

Phone: 508-620-1220
http://framingham.edu/henry-whittemore-library/how-do-i-tutorials/evaluating-internet-resources.html
framingham.edu
crawl=CC-MAIN-2014-35
27210
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:WXIG6SHUIPEARRKZ7ABL5GF5CIJP76PF
<urn:uuid:f651e323-3a77-4354-b84a-b09b285b4513>
2014-08-22T13:45:14Z
134.241.37.236
sha1:TBXJRVHSBZUYFAWWNUWB35OXBEJIW4JA
<urn:uuid:9d13d634-1b12-4425-aca1-bc3ee6061908>
http://framingham.edu/henry-whittemore-library/how-do-i-tutorials/evaluating-internet-resources.html
response
<urn:uuid:f050c596-2988-402c-ae6a-5a2154377122>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-180-136-8.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2014-35
operator: CommonCrawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web with URLs provided by Blekko for August 2014
publisher: CommonCrawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf