How
to evaluate it
- Does
it meet your
purpose?
-
Are
you looking for an overview or for analysis in depth?
-
Is
the topic covered adequately and in sufficient detail, including
names, dates, places, and events?
-
Is
the information original, or just a rehash of someone else's work?
-
Has
the web site been finished, or is it still a "work in progress?"
-
Has
the information been updated?
-
Is the data complete?
-
Does
the site have a geographic or other limiting focus?
-
Is
there a fee for access to the complete web site or document?
Examples
1.
Accounting Standards
Although
it takes a few minutes to understand this site, it is very complete:
It
is published by the official issuer of the standards.
Contents are clearly defined.
Instructions are given for finding changes to the original standards.
2.
Conformity
If
you were writing a paper on conformity, how useful would this page
be?
Is
enough information provided?
Is the information original?
Are suggestions for further reading provided?
3.
Korea
The author of this site explains that some information is incomplete.
But he doesn't say exactly which information.
Ask a reference librarian to recommend a reference book that has complete
coverage.
4.
News
Many
newspapers and magazines (like the Wall Street Journal) tempt the
reader with partial information.
The complete story requires a fee.
You can get the full text of many of these newspapers and magazines
through a library database such as Lexis-Nexis Academic or Proquest
Direct.
No fee is required.
5.
Periodic Table
Coverage
of the elements at this site is excellent.
Read through the notes to find out more about the project.
6.
Walt Whitman
The
Bartleby site has useful features:
- Table
of contents
- Keyword
search
- Index
of titles
- Index
of first lines
- Link
to the bibliographic record for the book that was digitized
It's
still hard to tell whether these are the complete works of Walt Whitman.
