Questioning Web authority
How a librarian trains students to assess Web page credibility
by Jim Kapoun

While teaching my undergraduate library instruction classes during the past year, I have noticed that faculty members are demanding that their students use the Web more often. In fact, some faculty seem to exclude most print resources in favor of Web pages. Clearly, the Web, in its ever-changing formats, has taken the instructional world by storm.

Just because Web usage is becoming more widespread, however, doesn't mean Web pages are growing in their reliability as research sources. In the library science world, I and most undergraduate librarians regard the Web as just another tool to use in the arsenal of research materials. On the other hand, some of the students and faculty members who attend my instruction classes believe differently, especially undergraduate college-age students. Their view is: "Web pages must be the correct source because they are the most current and easiest way to access forms of information."

The assumption is not true, of course, but it is almost impossible to refute. Students seem to gravitate to the Web first and grudgingly consult paper materials after. What I try to do, then, is not debate the merits of the Web versus paper, but instead provide techniques for undergraduate students to evaluate the accuracy of Web resources for their research.

Five criteria for Web evaluation
When teaching the Web to students, I include a section on evaluation. I base Web evaluation on five criteria that I use to appraise print publications: accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency and coverage. Knowing that most students today tend to conduct research with speed rather than accuracy in mind, I try to get them in the habit of evaluating resources by using criteria that are digestible and almost transparent to the students. In other words, I train students to make evaluating a Web document come as second nature.

In the evaluation lecture, I present at least two, but no more than four, Web sites on a relevant subject for the class. One or more will be labeled "good" Web sites and at least one will be labeled "poor."

Working with the five criteria, I have the students quickly evaluate the pages they view. I don't allow them to get bogged down with details; the goal is to provide the student a quick but comprehensive set of criteria to draw conclusions as to the quality of the Web pages.

Should you use the Web page?
Here's how students can apply the rubric, with the use of the chart below:

Accuracy. If your page lists the author and institution that published the page and provides a way of contacting him/her, and ...

Authority. If your page lists the author credentials and its domain is preferred (.edu, .gov, .org, or .net), and ...

Objectivity. If your page provides accurate information with limited advertising and is objective in presenting the information, and ...

Currency. If your page is current and updated regularly (as stated on the page) and the links (if any) are also up-to-date, and ...

Coverage. If you can view the information properly--not limited by fees, browser technology or software requirements, then ...

...You may have a higher quality Web page that could be of value to your research!

Five criteria for evaluating Web pages