Student Guide Home

Anatomy of a page

Evaluating for relevance
Authority of a web page
Evaluating for accuracy

Page types:

Informational pages
News sources
Advocacy web pages
Personal home pages

Web search strategies:

Getting started
Web directories
Search engines 1
Search engines 2
Citing online sources

Glossary

Evaluating Web pages for relevance

General evaluation criteria

Purpose and Audience

Most Web sites are not designed with the student researcher in mind. Companies design Web sites to advertise products to the browsing public at large; special interest groups create sites for select audiences, for those who share their views; and scholars may publish research on the Web for professional academic audiences. To understand how the information contained in Web sites like these will fit into the framework of a research project, or if indeed any of it is appropriate, consider the authors' purpose and audience.

Purpose
  • Is the site supposed to be educational or entertaining?
  • Is this site meant to be informational or promotional?
Audience
  • What does the author assume the user already knows about the topic of the site?
  • Based on your answer to the last question, should this site be of greatest interest to the general user, the enthusiast, or the professional?

Current page: Evaluating web pages for relevance
The anatomy of a web page  |  The authority of a web page
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Version 1.1
© 1997 Craig Branham
BRANHACC@SLU.EDU
Saint Louis University
Created: 27-March-97
Last Modified: 06-Oct-97

URL for this Document: http://www.slu.edu/departments/english/research/page01.html