Deerfield High School Library

Books & Media | Subscription Databases |Free Internet Sites By Subject| Citation Manual: MLA or APA| Fun Page

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Process of Evaluating Web Pages

Who?

• Who is the author of the site?   
• Do the credentials (occupation, years of experience, position, education, etc.) make the author a recognized expert?
• What institution supports this page? (if no author is given, there should be an organization/institution that accepts responsibility for the content) 
• Whose computer hosts the page?  (Use the URL to help with this, gov,  edu, net., com, org., k12) 
• Is the site hosted by angelfire, tripod or geocities? (free sites – usually poor quality) 
• Is this a personal page? The ~ indicates a personal page on an institutional server.

Choose one:   GOOD       BAD       UGLY 

If Good is chosen continue to next section
If Bad or Ugly is chosen, STOP, do not use this site.

Why?

• What is the purpose of the page?

• Inform

• Persuade

• Explain

• Who is the intended audience?
• Are biases and opinions clearly identified?
• Does the page include advertisements? 
  

Choose one:   GOOD       BAD       UGLY

What?

·Is the information clearly written and easy to understand?

• Is the text well-written with no spelling or grammatical errors?

• Are pictures, charts and graphs labeled clearly as to source and date?

Choose one:   GOOD       BAD       UGLY 

When?

• When was the page last updated?

• Are there dead links? (May show neglect)

       Choose one:   GOOD       BAD  

This criteria has no Ugly rating because often information does not change with time. 

Four Goods = Jackpot

Three Goods and one Bad = Think Twice

Less Than Three Goods=Risky Business

Any Uglys = Don’t waste your time and risk your reputation as a rising researcher!

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