Nursing Website Critique: EBSCO Health Notes

It is important to know the difference between reliable and unreliable information transmitted by all means of information sharing. Because anyone, in theory, can publish on the Web, it is imperative for us to develop a critical eye to evaluate the credibility of information transmitted via the Internet.
Students will:
• explore some Internet sites that ("relate to Nursing or Health Care Informatics.") Try using Goolge's Advance Search. You can select one extensive Internet site and give an overview of various components, then concentrate on one or more major links in detail. If your site is not very extensive you can critique the whole site. If the site you choose has a significant amount of information, you can pick representative samplings of information to deal with in detail and give a general overview of what is covered.
• Analyze the information and graphics on the Web sites; write a 2-3 page report on your findings. When you analyze the sites and form opinions, backup your views with supporting evidence to justify your points. Utilize APA manuscript style. You do not need to include an abstract.
Organize the paper thusly:
1. Give the URL of the site, and a brief overview of its content. On what kind of Web site does the information appear? (See below)
2. What are the major categories of information covered on the site/sites?
3. Who are the audiences for these sites? What clues define the audiences? Provide evidence such as tone, voice, and language (accessible to the general public or technical) assumed knowledge.
4. What are the hypertext links on that "page"? How do the various links relate to the main theme? Are the links consistent with the main theme, or does the site have personal links? Is it a hodgepodge of various personal interests of an individual?
5. What kinds of graphics are on the sites? Describe them in detail. How do they relate to the topics? Are the graphics designed to grab your attention? Do they make the site easier to use, or help explain concepts? Do the graphics support text information or do they stand alone? Do they overuse graphics to the point of distraction? Who are the various audiences for these graphics? What are your clues?
6. What clues do you have about the credibility of the sites and information? You may not be familiar with the institutions, organizations, or individuals who sponsor or who contributed information to the sites (and this is also true with traditional text sources), but can you also find text material by these authors or institutions in the library? From what institutions or organizations do the sites originate? Any group can give itself an official sounding name or logo. What beyond surface credibility gives you clues about the reliability of the site and its information? Is the sponsoring organization involved in research and/or does it provide supporting documentation to back up its points? Does the site have built in bias? For example is the Web page an advertisement for a product or service? Does it have a particular political or social agenda? Having an agenda or selling a product on the Web is not necessarily "bad," but is the sponsor "sneaky" about its alliances or "up front"?
7. Make some general observations about what you learned about the subject you chose to investigate from exploring these sites. What did you learn about your discipline through exploring the Internet sources? What general observations can you make about the usefulness and value of the information you found on the Internet (while aware of the fact that you have not covered all possible sites - only a sampling) in your chosen field of study? What did you learn about the importance of critiquing sources, Web and non-Web based, with a critical eye?