How to Evaluate Web Site
Valeriy Chopko
2/25/2011
How to Make a Choice in Favor of a Better Website The rapid development in internet technology in the last few decades has made it possibly to find something on web more efficiently, especially if you need particular information. It is a common thing these days when you are looking for something not to leaving home. However, I faced one problem doing some search on the internet. I had a question about people 's health, and I wanted to get an answer. I put my keyword in the search engine and start searching. People who search on the internet know how many results you can get on your searching. I started to open websites and looked at them trying to find what I needed. Soon, I realized that I couldn 't see reliable information from many sites, and some of them were just selling their products. But I wanted to find information that would cover my question well. It is a familiar situation, isn 't it? How can we evaluate which site is more likely to give us what we need? Fortunately, we can do it using criteria for evaluating information from the web. For example, using criteria such as authority, coverage, bias, and currency we can choose which site, UT Counseling and Mental Health Center (CMHC) or Health Guard, is much better. Looking at CMHC (www.cmhc.utexas.edu) site we can see that it has very good authority. The website is published by the University of Texas at Austin Counseling and Mental Health Center. I don 't need even to check what organization it is. But if someone is not sure about that, he or she can search and find a lot of information about who they are. The domain name of this site is .edu. It means that the page is supported by an educational institution. Also we can easily find contact information on the webpage. When I clicked About Us, I found many ways to contact this center. You have an opportunity to call them during their business hours, or contact them by US or campus mail, or through e-mail. But there
2/25/2011
How to Make a Choice in Favor of a Better Website The rapid development in internet technology in the last few decades has made it possibly to find something on web more efficiently, especially if you need particular information. It is a common thing these days when you are looking for something not to leaving home. However, I faced one problem doing some search on the internet. I had a question about people 's health, and I wanted to get an answer. I put my keyword in the search engine and start searching. People who search on the internet know how many results you can get on your searching. I started to open websites and looked at them trying to find what I needed. Soon, I realized that I couldn 't see reliable information from many sites, and some of them were just selling their products. But I wanted to find information that would cover my question well. It is a familiar situation, isn 't it? How can we evaluate which site is more likely to give us what we need? Fortunately, we can do it using criteria for evaluating information from the web. For example, using criteria such as authority, coverage, bias, and currency we can choose which site, UT Counseling and Mental Health Center (CMHC) or Health Guard, is much better. Looking at CMHC (www.cmhc.utexas.edu) site we can see that it has very good authority. The website is published by the University of Texas at Austin Counseling and Mental Health Center. I don 't need even to check what organization it is. But if someone is not sure about that, he or she can search and find a lot of information about who they are. The domain name of this site is .edu. It means that the page is supported by an educational institution. Also we can easily find contact information on the webpage. When I clicked About Us, I found many ways to contact this center. You have an opportunity to call them during their business hours, or contact them by US or campus mail, or through e-mail. But there
Cited: Health Guard. HealthGuard Wellness, LLC. 2010. Web. 23 Feb. 2011. CMHC UT Counseling and Mental Health Center. The University of Texas at Austin Counseling and Mental Health Center. 17 Feb. 2011. Web. 23 Feb. 2011.