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

Rating:
Summary: Great for individual web users, students and teachers!
Review: The authors have done a great job of providing criteria, explanations and examples for web users who wish to evaluate information on the web. We all know there is a ton of stuff out there, much of it bad or biased. Now we know how to tell the wheat from the chaff. Individual web users will want to have the book handy when looking for consumer, health, business, or other kinds of data on the web. Teachers may want to require it as a text or supplemental reading in courses which involve web user. Students who include information found on the web in their research can use this guide to determine the quality, currency and objectivity of web sites. This book fills a gap in the literature. Nicely written. Easy to read. Great gift idea.

Rating:
Summary: Earning respect on the Net
Review: This book is an in-depth analysis of the factors that make a Website believable. The authors, two librarians, examine numerous aspects of Websites and point out how they can be used to evaluate sites as trustworthy sources of information or goods. They begin with 5 traditional evaluation criteria: authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency, and intended audience, and give examples of how these criteria apply to Websites. They also extend these criteria with evaluation measures that are specific to the medium. They then apply the evaluation criteria to different types of Websites: advocacy, business, informational, news, personal, and entertainment pages. This book is a must-have for libraries and researchers. It would also be very useful for serious Web designers who want to understand what kinds of design factors will bring credibility and respect to their Websites.