Web
Guide
Site Review Guidelines
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Site Review
Guidelines . . .
When reviewing a web site,
consider three components of the site as follows: Content, Design, and
Technical Skill.
Content
Consider the following questions.
(1) "What is the source of the information on the web site?" or in other
words, "Who is the author?" and "What are his or her sources?" Because
of the accessibility of the web for publication, this is the most important
question to answer. If the author does not clearly identify himself
or herself and his or her verifiable sources, then you should dismiss the
web site as unscholarly. (2) "Is the information mainly facts or summary
opinions?" (3) "What is the purpose of the web site?" (4) "Who disagrees
with the opinions presented on the web site?" (5) "How is the information
organized - thematically or chronologically or spatially?" (6) "How is
the information communicated - in an oversimplified manner hidden by bells
and whistles or in a book-like, text-based manner or a balance of the two?"
In addition to answering these six questions, briefly summarize the content
on the site.
Design
Consider the following questions.
(1) "Is the information presented in an easily accessible and consistent
fashion or do you get lost in the links as you move from page to page?"
(2) "Is the information presented in a readable fashion? For example, do
you lose the text in the background? Or does the length of the text hinder
reading?"
Technical
Skill
Apparent technical skill
does not guarantee the scholarship of a site. Many technical people
build lousy sites by doing what Cynthia Kurkowski says to avoid, i.e. making
"information play second fiddle to multimedia attractions."1
Consider the following questions. (1) "How do the technical components
of the site including search capabilities, audio or video segments, programming,
etc. make the site more informative?" (2) "How does the site, or does the
site, effectively marry functionality and design, as Marcos Sanchez suggests?"2
To complete your evaluation,
consider what audience should view the web site?
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Content
What
is the source of the information?
Design
Is
the information presented in an organized, consistent, accessible fashion?
Technical
Skill
How
do the high-tech components contribute to effective information distribution
on the site?
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