Site chosen (URL)

The home page of the site should have a menu of the information available at the site. Choose two items to explore. Click on each one in turn, and briefly describe what you find. (You may need to familiarize yourself with the navigation commands of your Web browser: Look for buttons labeled forward/next and backward/previous. In addition, most Web pages have a home button linking them to the home page of the site.)

1. Menu item

Description

2. Menu item

Description

Check the Web site you’ve chosen for the following other features:

SELECT YES NO Does the Web site have links to other sites?

SELECT Quite Extensive Somewhat Extensive Not Extensive There were no links! About how extensive is the list of links?

SELECT YES NO Is it organized in an easy-to-use fashion?

SELECT YES NO Does the site have an index, a contents, or search capability?

SELECT YES NO If so, is it easy to use?

SELECT YES NO Does the site give a "last modified" date? If so, note it below.

SELECT YES NO Are there any other indications of currency, such as an "in the news," "what’s new," or "late-breaking information" section?

SELECT YES NO Is there a mission statement or an "about us" section that tells more about the sponsor(s) of the site?

SELECT YES NO Are there any indications of potential bias?

SELECT Excellent Very Good Average Below Average How would you rate the overall reliability of the site?

SELECT YES NO Is there an e-mail address for a contact person? If so, note it below:

Choose one topic and follow a series of links to the most specific level. For example, at the Healthfinder site, you can click in turn on Prevention and Self-Care, Healthy Living, Nutrition, and, finally, the Food Guide Pyramid.

Topic

Brief description of the most specific level of information:

SELECT YES NO Are you still on a page affiliated with the site you started with?

SELECT YES NO Does the first part of your current URL match that of the home page of the original site?

Current URL

SELECT YES NO If not, can you determine what organization or agency sponsors or maintains the current site?

Finally, what are your overall impressions of the site?

SELECT YES NO Did it provide helpful, reliable information?

SELECT YES NO Was it easy and enjoyable to use?

What improvements would you recommend for the site?

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Your Name
Your Email Address
Professor Email Address

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Search engine in use
SELECT AltaVista Excite HotBot Infoseek LookSmart Lycos Magellan Northern Light Snap WebCrawler Yahoo!

Topic chosen:

Once you’ve completed your search, choose two of the sites to investigate. Write a brief description of each one; include your evaluation of the site’s reliability, currency, and usefulness.

1. URL

Sponsor

Description of site:

Does the site seem reliable?
SELECT YES NO

Why or why not?

Does the site seem current?
SELECT YES NO

Why or why not?

Is the site easy to use and helpful?
SELECT YES NO

Why or why not?

2. URL

Sponsor

Description of site:

Does the site seem reliable?
SELECT YES NO

Why or why not?

Does the site seem current?
SELECT YES NO

Why or why not?

Is the site easy to use and helpful?
SELECT YES NO

Why or why not?