History-Web Paper

The website evaluation paper requires you to summarize and evaluate the contents of a website that is relevant to one of the topics covered in your course.  Your evaluation should concisely summarize the contents of the site, indicate the author's purpose in creating the site, assess the credibility of the author and evaluate the usefulness and accuracy of the information on the site.

• Please email your website selection to your instructor for an ok to go ahead with the evaluation of that site.
• The site that you choose to evaluate should have at least five separate pages of text and graphics.
• The site CANNOT be one of the sites listed anywhere in your course as a suggested website nor can it refer to US history or be from an online encyclopedia.  You also cannot evaluate any of the Internet History Sourcebooks, done by Paul Halsall at Fordham University.
• Your name and date should appear at the top left of your paper along with
  • the URL and title of the website that you are evaluating
  • the date the website was last revised
  • the name(s) of the author(s) of the site.
• If you have any doubts about a selection, please contact your instructor.

1. Detailed description of the site
2. Credibility of the site's author
   • How knowledgeable is the author on this subject?
   • What evidence is offered to support that authority?
3. Accuracy of the site's information
   • Are sources for information clearly listed so they can be verified?
   • Are there grammatical and spelling errors?
   • Are source materials complete or edited?
   • Are all images identified with proper citations?
4. Site bias
   • Is there reason to suspect bias?
   • Is there any commercial advertising on the site?
   • Is there a political/ideological/religious bias or other agenda?
5. Site purpose
   • To provide general, or scholarly, information?
   • To persuade? To entertain?  To explain?
6. How current is the information on the site?
7. Do any links on the site lead you to any related material?  Are the links easy to navigate?
8. Site Design.  Consider these issues:
   • Is the text easy to read?
   • Does the site's structure and navigation make sense?
   • Do the graphics contribute to your understanding or appreciation of the material?
   • What might you suggest to make this site more effective?