evaluating blogs and web documents
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LSC 644 Information Literacy and Instructional Design "evaluating blogs and web documents"
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evaluating blogs and web documents
- 1. Blog evaluation techniques Distinguishing the good from the bad
- 2. After this session, you will be able to: Evaluate the accuracy of blogs and web documents Identify the authority of blogs and web documents Appraise the objectivity of blogs and web documents Assess the currency of blogs and web documents Estimate the coverage of blogs and web documents
- 3. acknowledgements Material for this training session comes from the following sources: “Evaluating Web Content,” User Education – Promoting Information Literacy, University Libraries SUNY, Albany http://library.albany.edu/usered/eval/evalweb/EvaluatingWebCon tent.pdf “Five Criteria for evaluating Web pages,” Olin and Uris Libraries, Cornell University, Ask a Librarian “http://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/ref/research/webcrit.html From Kapoun, Jim. “Teaching undergrads WEB evaluation: a guide for library instruction.” C&RL News (July/August 1998): 522-523
- 4. Procedure Step by step, we will consider five evaluative criteria: accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency, and coverage (AAOCC). But we will not go over these concepts in a vacuum. We will examine each on a website example that you will have at your desktop and on your handout. Please take notes on how we look at the concepts and the examples because you will have an opportunity to do an independent assessment. Questions?
- 5. Accuracy Who is the author of the page? Can you contact him/her? What is the blog’s purpose? Is the purpose clearly stated? Is the blogger qualified to write the blog?
- 7. Authority Can you identify the publisher of the blog? Is she separate from the webmaster? Does an institution publish the blog? Can you determine the institution from the domain? Can we ascertain the publisher’s credentials/qualifications?
- 9. Objectivity What are the goals/objectives of the blog? Does the blog meet those objectives? Is the information detailed? Does the author express opinions? What are the author’s opinions?
- 11. Currency When was the blog produced? Does it have “dead” links? How recently was the page updated?
- 13. Coverage Are there links and are those links evaluated? Do the links complement themes in the document? Does the site have a balance between images and text? Is presented information cited correctly?
- 15. Wrap-up Accuracy Authority Objectivity Currency Coverage Memory aid: AAOCC
- 16. Lab and homework assignment We will walk through an evaluation of the first website. Your homework assignment is to pick two additional blogs from among the four provided and evaluate using the criteria we have discussed. For extra credit, you may evaluate all three of the provided sites, or you may evaluate one of your own choosing.
Editor's Notes
- We will use Jadaliyya, one of my favorites, for this exercise. Three other sites are included in your package of which you are to choose two for analysis. If your evaluation is overall negative, please explain fully and provide rationale for why it may be so. For extra credit, you may add a third blog of your own choosing. PG rated only!
- We will begin by clicking the “Home” link. Often a search will direct you to a site other than “Home.”Next, click on the About” link to evaluate/determine accuracy. Next, scan down to Page/section editors, where we see the name Bassam Haddad as main editor.Clicking on his name takes us to his home page, which includes his Bio and other interesting information that completes the accuracy picture.
- Can we immediately identify the publisher? No, not immediately. We know the bio info of the main editor, and we may assume the editor and publisher are the same. But verification will require extra inquiry.
- Objectivity is perhaps a bit squishy here. The main editor is clearly of Middle East origin, but that in itself doesn’t make him less than objective. Returning to the “About “ page, we see at the top: Jadaliyya is an independent ezine produced by ASI (Arab Studies Institute), the umbrella organization that produces Arab Studies Journal, Tadween Publishing, FAMA, and Quilting Point.Jadaliyya provides a unique source of insight and critical analysis that combines local knowledge, scholarship, and advocacy with an eye to audiences in the United States, the Middle East and beyond. The site currently publishes posts both in Arabic, French, English, and Turkish.
- The blog is updated daily. The most recent update is today’s date (although the article is in Arabic, it takes a day to get a good translation out). No dead links that I can find
- I struggle with the balance between images and text on my own blog. Jadaliyya gets strong marks in this area.