Evaluating the quality of web sites

[Hal P. Kirkwood]

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There are numerous papers on what to look for in the way of evaluating 
information on the Net.

Take a look at http://www.tiac.net/users/hope/findqual.html
or http://info.lib.uh.edu/pr/v8/n3/smit8n3.html
or http://www.science.widener.edu/~withers/cklstlnk.htm

And to answer Clay Johnson's questions with the same....How CAN one test 
the validity of information in print and television? Or anywhere else for 
that matter?

By critical thinking.....by verifying information in more than one 
source.....by determining if certain expected criteria is available from a 
web site...only then should you trust the information be provided.

As far as information validation.....would that be a review process? 
 Similar to print journals?  Some web sites have that...others do not. 
 Part of my presentation at the Internet Librarian Conf. back in November 
talked to the idea that librarians should not only be teaching the above 
skills of information verification but practicing it in a visible manner on 
their web pages.    It's time to move beyond creating a collection of links 
and towards creating a more useful model of presenting information that we 
believe to be useful...and explaining why we think so to our users!

Here at the Management & Econ Library of Purdue Univ.  we are putting in 
place a process where all three of the librarians will review a site before 
it is added to our web page.  We're trying to create our own sense of 
accountability as to the information we provide access to...for ourselves 
and for our users.

Well...that's my $.02.


-hal

Hal P. Kirkwood Jr.					Purdue University
Asst Mgmt & Econ Librarian				1340 Krannert
kirkwood at purdue.edu				West Lafayette, IN 47906
http://bounce.to/hal/				765/494-2921
						FX: 765/494-9058

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