Web Wisdom: How To Evaluate and Create Information Quality on the Web

Product DescriptionWeb Wisdom is an essential reference for anyone needing to evaluate or establish information quality on the World Wide Web. The book includes easy to use checklists for stepbystep quality evaluations of virtually any Web page. The checklists can also be used by Web authors to help them ensure quality information on their pages. In addition, Web Wisdom addresses other important issues, such as understanding the ways that advertising and sponsorship may affect the quality of Web information. It features:* a detailed discussion of the items involved in evaluating Web information;* checklists tailored to the creation and evaluation of specific Web page types (advocacy, business, informational, news, personal, entertainment);* over 40 screen captures illustrating the principles presented in the book;* discussion of copyright issues and meta tags; and* a glossary of terms and bibliography.From School Library JournalSometimes it seems like potluck whether a site you find on the Web can be trusted. To help studentsand librariansmake judgments when using the Web for research, Alexander and Tate have constructed an indepth curriculum for evaluating sites for quality, accuracy, and reliability. With plenty of labeled screen shots to illustrate their points, the authors tackle issues such as the balance of advertising and content in sites and analyzing personal Web pages. Two appendixes offer checklists and questions that evaluators can use to judge any site. The information and criteria presented are accurate and excellent, but the strict structure, length, and density of the book will make it rough going for many readers. Many excellent sites on the Web from respected institutions already survey the basics of site evaluation. Librarians and media specialists writing a Webuse curriculum or a virtual collection development policy, however, will find this book indispensable.Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.ReviewReadable and straightforward, this reference will be useful to undergraduates and graduates in any major.CHOICETwo Widener University reference librarians whose Web site has become a staple for librarians and educators teaching Web literacy classes have now published a nifty howtodoit guide in book form. This concise volume will probably become a fixture in journalism classes on how to create and evaluate Web sites. It also would be useful in classes on using the Web to research stories.Journalism & Mass Communication QuarterlyLibrarians and media specialists writing a Webuse curriculum or a virtual collection development policy...will find this book indispensable.School Library JournalThe authors are to be congratulated for boiling down this experience into a useful, and affordable, printed work that could be a recommended source for all who work in this area.Program: Electronic Library and Information Systems...the book is worth reading and is a useful complement to other texts in the field.The Electronic LibraryI would encourage anyone who uses the web, either for information or for promotion of their organization, understand the key elements of eveluation of web pages and web sites. This book is a wonderful resource and one that I will encourage other faculty, students, and members of my family to read.Ashland Theological JournalWeb Wisdom is a comprehensive, logically organized, and highly useful guide for evaluating and creating high quality, reputable, informational Web pages. [It] makes ample use of Web page images, evaluative criteria checklists, and informative narrative explanations to make clear their approach and standards. A glossary of terms is also included which will be helpful to both newcomers and old hands alike.Peter MilburyIn his review posted to LMULNET discussion group (12 July 1999)