EME 2040: Introduction to Technology for Educators: Website Evaluation

Check out these other sites with tutorials on website evaluation. There are many other good tutorials and websites available.

• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
• John Hopkins Sheridan Libraries
• Ohio State University
• Stanford Web Credibility Research Project
• Wolfgram Memorial Library, Widener University
• Write Online.ca (CRAAP chart)

For evaluating Medical and Health information, see also:

• Evaluating Internet Health Information: A Tutorial from the National Library of Medicine
• Medline Plus guide for "Evaluating Health Information"
• Evaluating Health Websites (for consumers)

There are several similar ways to remember the criteria for evaluating websites. Click on the Title of each for more explanation and a PDF handout.

CRAAP (Cal State Universiy-Chico)

• Currency
• Relevance
• Authority
• Accuracy
• Purpose

5 Questions (Univ. of California, Berkeley
Click here for a checklist.  

• What can the URL tell you? (domain, publisher)
• Answer these questions- scan perimeter of page (about us, philosophy, background, biography, currency, credentials, etc.)
• Look for indicators of quality information (links, documentation/footnotes, credibility)
• What do others say? (linking pages, listed in a reputable directory, what others say about the author)
• Does it all add up? (why was page put on web, purpose, is this as reliable as resource as you would find in a library?)

Google Search Operators
      (adding symbols and words to your search)

Search Using Quotation Marks
      To search for a phrase, to find words side-by-side in a particular order
      Examples:        "United States"       "Civil War"

Search by Suffiix 
      To search for sites bearing a particular suffix, like .edu, gov., etc.
      After typing your search terms, type the following:
            site:.edu    (will only show educational institutions .edu sites)
            site:.gov    (will only show U.S. government .gov sites
            site:.org     (will only show nonprofit .org sites)

• More Google Search Helps
• Google Search Features 
• Google: Inside Search 
• Google Power Searching (self-paced course)
• Google Advanced Power Searching (self-paced course) 
• Google Live Training (how-to-search)