MICDS McCulloch Library: Website Evaluation

At the Upper School, we use the TOECAP criteria to evaluate websites.

Anyone can publish anything on the Internet, and there is a huge amount of information to choose from.  Search engines like Google do not rank its results based on accuracy, authority, or credibility.  How do you know whether the information on a site is reliable, authentic, accurate, and worth your time? 

Trustworthy? Ask yourself:

• Who is the author of the site?
  
• Is the author qualified to write about this subject?
• What are the author’s credentials?
• Is contact information for the author available?

Objective? Ask yourself:

• Is the objective or subjective?
• Is there a balance of information?
• Does the creator of the site have any reason to be biased?
• Is there advertising? If so, does the advertising influence the content of the site?

Enough? Ask yourself:

• Does the site have enough information for you?
• How detailed is the information?
• Is it easy to navigate the site?
• Is it easy to find the information you need?

Current? Ask yourself:

• How recent is the information on the site?
• When was it last updated?
• Are there broken links on the page?

Accurate? Ask yourself:

• Does the information seem right to you, compared to other information you have found?
• Does it make sense?
• Does it seem like someone fact-checks and edits the site for minor errors?

Purpose? Ask yourself:

• What's the purpose of the site?
• Why was the site created?
  
• Who is the intended audience?
  

Test yourself to see if you know how to evaluate websites using these tutorials from Vaughan Memorial Library at Acadia University and University of Arizona Libraries.

This TOECAP checklist is available for printing or saving.