Thursday, August 19, 2010

General Criteria for Evaluating a Cartographic Web Site

Accuracy
  • Who is responsible for the site?  Who is the author?
  • Is there contact information for the author?
  • Are the maps accurate?  If not, why not?
  • Is the site in good repair?  Are there any dead links?
  • Has it been updated recently? 
  • Authority
  • What kind of site is it?
  • Who is publishing or hosting the site?
  • What is the primary activity of the host?
  • What are the author’s credentials or qualifications? 
  • What is the source of the maps?
  • Objectivity
  • Why has the information been brought together for you find on the web?  What is the purpose of the site?
  • Is there any detectable bias in the site or its information?  Is there any reason to suspect a bias, e.g. the business of the publishing institution or the author?
  • Who decided what kinds of information is available on the site?
  • What were the selection criteria for the items included in the site?
  • Is the information freely available or is it available for purchase?  If you must purchase information, who is the money going to and why was it necessary to purchase the information?
  • Where did the maps come from?  Who originally produced them?  For what purpose?
  • Currency
  • When was the site published?  Has it been updated?
  • Is the site recent enough to be useful to your topic?
  • Are the maps current?  If not, when were they produced and does this date impact their relevance to your use?
  • Is the information available on the page still current or relevant?
  • Coverage
  • Is the information available on the site in the public domain or protected by copyright?
  • Were the maps or links carefully chosen?
  • Is the information organized in a way that makes it accessible and easily obtained?
  • What is the quality of the maps?
  • What kind of site is it? Is there a focus? Is there any bias in the selection of map information?
  • Does the site have a thematic, chronological, or geographic focus?
  • Deborah Carter Peoples Science Librarian Librarian Liaison to Geography and Environmental Studies Ohio Wesleyan University Libraries Geography 222 The Power of Maps and GIS is a faculty/librarian collaboration for course enhancement with principles of Information Literacy.  Support for this project was provided by the Five Colleges of Ohio Mellon Grant for Information Literacy.