net.TUTOR: Evaluating Web Sites

Evaluating Web Sites > 4: Recognition

4A: Signs of Recognition

Finally, what do others think about the site? Depending upon what type of content you are evaluating, the signs of recognition will vary.

Ask: Do others recognize the value of this content?

Look for:

Some indication of how many other sites link to a site you are evaluating.
Tags for this site in public bookmarks/favorites collections.
Reader comments, ratings and links to blogs.
Citations of articles by other researchers.

4B: How to Find Linking Sites

You can locate similar sites sites that "link" to a particular URL using Google or AltaVista. In the search box, type:

link:[URL of known site]
Example:link:www.deathpenaltyinfo.org

Be careful to format your search exactly as shown above. It may be easier to use Google Advanced Search. Click the plus sign to open the full advanced search form, then scroll down to Page Specific Tools, and type the URL into the box labelled Find pages that link to the page.

4C: How to Find Public Bookmarks for a Site

Check to see whether a Web site has been tagged and chosen for inclusion in one of the Web-based bookmarking sites, such as del.icio.us. Enter the site title or the URL in the search box at the top of the page (as shown in the illustration) to find out how many people have tagged this site.

4D: How to Find Reactions to Blogs

Technorati is a useful tool for finding out more about blogs and bloggers. Try a search for either the blogger's name or the title of the blog, then click the Blogs tab at the top of the search results. This will show you a list of blogs that match your search. Now simply click on the title of a blog to view more information, such as the "authority" rating, number of fans, etc. (as shown in the illustration). Technorati authority is defined as the number of blogs linking to a website in the last six months.

4E: How to Find Citations of Articles

In addition to web pages, you may want to see where an article has been cited. There is no simple way to find all sources that cite an article. Here are some tips for getting some useful information as you evaluate an article found on the Web. Keep in mind that there may not be any citations for very new articles.

For articles published in popular magazines or on blogs, the easiest approach is to use a Web search engine. Search for the title of the article. Here's an example using Google.

If an article is published in a scholarly journal, it has usually been "peer reviewed." That means that other scholars have determined it is acceptable for publication. However, it's still helpful to find out whether an article has been used by other researchers.

One way to approach this task is through Google Scholar. Entries in this database indicate whether a source is cited by others and provide links to those other sources (as shown in the illustration). This can also lead you to more information on your topic.

4F: Tools To Assist Evaluation

Another tool, the McAfee Site Advisor browser add-on (for Internet Explorer), adds safety ratings to search results to help protect you from adware, spam, and online scams, as shown in the illustration below.

Activity

Use Google Advanced Search to determine how many sites have made links to:

ipl2 -- www.ipl.org
Go Ask Alice -- www.goaskalice.columbia.edu

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