Evaluation Criteria for Internet Information Resources

The international organization Health on the Net (HON) is committed to identifying and recognizing reliable sources of health information on the Internet. HON has identified five areas for evaluation of information on the web:

• the author's credentials,
• the date of the last modification with respect to clinical documents,
• confidentiality of data,
• source data reference,
• funding and advertising policy.

HON has also created an interactive tool, the HONcode Site Checker , by which users can evaluate websites and get feedback about which areas of the website need improvement.

Source

• Can you identify the source of the information?
• Is the information signed by the author, publisher, organization?
• Are credentials for an individual author given?

Bias

• Is the information primarily objective (fact-based) or subjective (opinion-based)?
• Are potential conflicts of interest (such as sources of funding) apparent?
• Does the web site endorse products of the advertisers on its web site? A site which accepts advertising may not examine the products of the advertisers critically.

Level

• Who is the intended audience?
• Is the information intended for patients or for healthcare professionals?

References

• Can the information be independently verified?
• Are references to the traditional literature given?
• Is there a respected print equivalent that can be consulted for verification if the online information is in doubt?
• Has the content of the webpage been subjected to an editorial or peer-review process?

Currency

• Is the information current?
• How often is the information updated?
• How current was the original source from which the Internet information was obtained (e.g., was it copied from a 20 year old textbook)?

Ease of Use

• Is the website easy to navigate?
• Is it well-organized?
• Does it have a search engine?
• Can you get to the information you need?

Evaluating Internet Health Information: A Tutorial from the National Library of Medicine
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/webeval/webeval.html

This tutorial teaches you how to to evaluate the health information that you find on the Web. It is about 16 minutes long.

Evaluation of Information Sources
http://www.vuw.ac.nz/staff/alastair_smith/evaln/evaln.htm

Alastair Smith's page contains pointers to criteria for evaluating information resources, particularly those on the Internet. It is intended to be particularly useful to librarians and others who are selecting sites to include in an information resource guide, or informing users as to the qualities they should use in evaluating Internet information.

Criteria for Evaluating Internet Information Resources
http://info.lib.uh.edu/pr/v8/n3/smit8n3.html

Smith, Alastair G. "Testing the Surf: Criteria for Evaluating Internet Information Resources." The Public-Access Computer Systems Review 8, no. 3 (1997). (Refereed Article)

Criteria for Evaluating Quality on the Net
http://www.hopetillman.com/findqual.html

A paper written by by Hope N. Tillman, which covers the following areas: How to look at Internet Information; Generic criteria for evaluation; The current state of evaluation tools on the net or Evaluating the Evaluators; and Key indicators of "quality".

HONcode Criteria for Evaluating Information on the Internet
http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/HONcode_check.html

The Health on the Net Foundation has developed Principles which are ethical guidelines to help unify the quality of medical and health information on the World Wide Web.

ICYouSee A to Z: T is for Thinking
http://www.ithaca.edu/library/training/think.html

Authored by John Henderson, Ithaca College Library. A good site to explain why and when to use the Internet. He has provided a list of links to other "Evaluating the Internet sites".

Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources
http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/critical/

Authored by by Esther Grassian, UCLA College Library. The World Wide Web has a lot to offer, but not all sources are equally valuable or reliable. Here are some points to consider.