Evaluation of Internet Sources: A Checklist

Accessibility

• How easy is it to get to the site? Does it require a particular brand of browser or extra software?
• How easy is it to use the site? Can you tell where you are and what you are looking at?

• *Is the content accurate?*
• How does it reconcile with what you already know? Is the information of sufficient depth or breadth to make access worthwhile?
• Are the links to other material logical and meaningful? (December and Randall, 1995)
• Does the material address your question or your research or entertainment needs?

• Is the information timely as well as accurate? Is the material updated as needed?(may be dated, usually at the foot of the page)

• What is the site's purpose? Why is the information being provided?
• Educational sites, such as the National Gallery of Art site or various library catalogs, should provide unique information. Adatabase, an encyclopedia, or other reference work may be available at your library, possibly in a more recent version.
• Social sites provide social interaction or entertainment. They may or may not be useful for research purposes.
• Commercial sites will advertise products or services such as the many catalogs online. Is there enough additional information to make it a value-added site? For example, some firms include information about the company, or provide do-it-yourself tips. (Wiklund, 1994)

• The authority of the writers and providers of a site is related to the purpose and agenda. Who wrote the pages?(who is the author?)
• Who is providing the information?(Who is the publisher?)
• Designers should be willing to identify themselves with their work, and providers, if different, should also identify themselves. (Lemay, 1995)
• Sites of professional associations are often well identified and authoritative regarding particular subjects.

• Is the site easy to use? Are the buttons or links logical and consistent? Are the screens easy to read? Are they cluttered? (Schneiderman, 1992, MacDonald, et.al, 1991)
• Is the text or content focused on the needs of the users? Are the sentences and directions clear? What about the spelling? Is the use of all CAPITALS limited to warnings or other points that need emphasis?(Schneiderman, 1992)
• Do the pages or screens show their relation to each other by common design elements, labeling, or directional cues?(LeMay, 1995)

• Is the site free? Does it require a subscription or a one-time fee? Does it require registration, including an e-mail address?
• After you register at a site, do you then receive unsolicited e-mail? This costs you time and bandwidth.

Response Time

• How long does it take to load? A courteous designer will allow users to choose to load the pages without images (text only) to speed loading or accommodate text browsers (LeMay, 1995).
• Does the elapsed time to load a document vary by the time of day? Response time is not under the full control of the designers, but a good page will be built to load in a few seconds on most client servers.

• Is the site stable? Does the link address change frequently? Is a page left open with the new address or link? Sites that disappear cause frustration.

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