Download Evaluating a Web Site

Introduction to Evaluation:

Where do you find information? How do
you determine if information is relevant to
your question?
Evaluating Sources: A Brief Overview
of determining Relevance
Scholarly Journal
Magazines and
newspapers
Websites
Evaluating Relevance of Sources


What are some ways you can be sure the
information you found is relevant?
Relevance is the extent to which a source
provides information you can use in your
research writing project.
Evaluating a Web Site


One way to evaluate the relevance of a Web site is
to look at the domain name (part of the URL).
Some common domain names:
.com (for commercial sites)
.org (for nonprofit organization sites)
.gov (for government sites)
.net (for network related sites)
.edu (for educational sites).
Evaluating a Web Site


Look at the page title, navigation headers,
and menus for more information about the
content and organization of the site.
Follow links included on the site to give you a
general idea of the outlook of the site.
Evaluating a Magazine or Newspaper
Article
The first step in evaluating the relevance of a magazine
or newspaper article is to quickly scan the article.
 read bold-faced, colored, or underlined text; the first
and last sentences of paragraphs; highlighted
quotations; photo captions; illustrations; and tables.
Evaluating Scholarly or Professional
Journals

Scholarly or Professional journals use one of
two main strategies to help readers
determine whether their article is relevant to
readers needs and interests.
–
An abstract—a brief description of the article and its
results
– When an abstract is not used, an article's introduction
often provides similar information.
Evaluating Scholarly or Professional
Journals
The next step is to evaluate its relevance in greater
depth. Ask yourself:
 Will this information help me accomplish my
purpose?
 Is there any new information or information that will
add something new to the conversation?
 Is the article relevant in terms of how it treats the
subject? Always ask yourself not only "Will this do?"
but "Would something else be better?"