Information Analysis

This week we were taught about the evaluation of Sources, why we must evaluate and the criteria for the evaluation. Since the Internet is ever-growing and countless numbers of information are being put up by many people. Therefore Information  may not be reliable. The evaluation of the sources is becoming more important due to this.

There are 7 criteria that needs to be considered for evaluating the Internet sources. They are:

1. Purpose-  We should be aware of the source's objective. It should make it's purpose obvious at first.   A good source will be use to understand and use which will not make the users confused.

2. Scope-  What subject does the Source cover? We should know the breadth, depth, time and format of the source. It is necessary that it should have detail description of the concerned topic.

3. Authority- The person who holds the power to do whatever he wants with the work. It is necessary to identify the authority and their expertise.

4. Audience- It is necessary to know who the intended users are. It helps in determining the level of the material.

5. Information Content- The content is based on accuracy, currency and uniqueness.

6. Design and Layout- It should be well organized and logically presented for understanding the information easily. The information contained should be well divided for easy use and navigability. The color, style, multimedia and functionality should also be taken into consideration.

7. Access/ Work ability- How easy and user friendly is the source? the following aspects are taken into consideration when judging its accessibility, ease of use, search-ability, brows-ability, software reliability, connectivity, cost policy, censorship, language, user support.

These are summaries of useful criteria for evaluating resources.