Tillman points out on her site Evaluating Credibility on the Web, that websites that offer information can be categorized in 4 groups. She categorizes these as vanity, grey, scholarly, and promotion (Tillman, 2003).  Grey sites are a catch for all the documents out  the web that are neither for promotion or scholarly but exist to provide information. Within in the continuum of these websites none can be judged as all good or all bad.  Vanity sites that offer a specific person’s thoughts and idea can be very useful and provide accurate information. Some might believe that scholarly sites should be trusted but even these sites may contain a bias based on the organization they are associated. There are three key areas to judge a sites credibility:  reliability, accuracy, and usability.

Reliability

Reliability has to do with the trustworthiness of the site.  In this category we are most interested in the transparency of the authors of the site or the organization that has created the website.  Most importantly does the web site state and or clearly identify the author and provide details of their background and qualifications. If it is an organization does it clearly state the purpose and/or mission of the group. Stanford’s Web Credibility Project suggests that to create credibility one should make it easy to contact the author or organization behind the website.  For organizations, having a physical address and phone number definitely helps create a better sense of trustworthiness. For individuals email addresses or other contact information can be equally important.

Below is the Librarians’ Internet Index on their about us page they clearly state their purpose and links to the organizations that support them.

Example of a website establishing reliability

Accuracy

The next key factor in website credibility is the accuracy of the information on the website.  This is best represented by documenting and linking resources that were used in developing the information on the website. University of California Berkeley’s evaluating websites checklist suggest looking for links to other sites supporting the information on the site and ensuring these links work. If we think about how we evaluate anything we think of as a legitimate source of information we should have the same expectations on the web.  In terms of scholarly information we look to peer reviewed articles published by reputable sources. In evaluating scholarly articles we might often check their sources to ensure that they are accurately portraying the results and information being relayed.  These are all good practices on the web as well. Checking the sources of any information not only helps in the evaluation of the original information it gives one a broader sense of the topic. UC Berkeley also suggested using a search device that can track who is linking a particular website. An example of this is Alexa.com which will provide the statistics about a websites traffic and a list of what other sites are linking to that site.

Below is an example of a search on the site: Open Thinking Blog http://educationaltechnology.ca/couros/

Example of an Alexa search

Usability

Usability is an important aspect of web site credibility. This particular topic can go into exhaustive lists on web design. However, there a few crucial elements that aid in usability. In web design usability is often what helps establish credibility. Professional looking, well-organized, and efficiently informative websites provide a sense of thoughtfulness and planning that is expected for reliable sources. What are the keys to achieving these core elements?  Simplicity is one way that sites can build user trust.  Over designing, over use of technical features that cause slow loading of pages, and annoying automation can cause user frustration.  Clear navigation that is consistent with general web design is helpful. Most reputable sites have a navigation bar with links to the home page, about us page, and then clear brief descriptions for navigating to other topic pages. Deviations from this protocol can cause confusion and disorientation. Ads can also lead to user distrust. However, many bloggers rely on ads to help fund their message. The key is that other elements that establish reliability and accuracy are still evident on their sites.

In general a quick and easy web credibility checklist looks like:

• Does the website clearly state the author and/or organization?
• If yes is there contact information provided?
• Does the site link to other sites for information that it references, or provide references for the information it provides?
• If yes do  these links work?
• Is the website easy to navigate and a somewhat simple in its design that allow it to be easily navigated?

If the answer to any of these is no the site deserves further in depth investigation to further establish it credibility.

References:

Evaluating web pages: Techniques to apply and questions to ask. (http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html)

Evaluating Quality on the Net by Hope N. Tillman (http://www.hopetillman.com/findqual.html)

Stanford Web Credibility Research Project http://credibility.stanford.edu/guidelines/index.html

Stephenson, N. How do your students assess website credibility? http://www.isteconnects.org/2009/04/01/how-do-your-students-assess-website-credibility/