🚀 go-pugleaf

Hi, Sarah.

Last summer, I had the opportunity to give a presentation on evaluating
virtual resources. In it I covered evaluation of content, aspects of
accessible web design, and issues of technological access. It was a
session that was part of a larger week-long workshop for public library
managers on many aspects of library evaluation.

I used two exercises during the hands-on part that may be helpful to you.
The first exercise involved selecting a library (in this case, from a list
of Ohio public libraries) and evaluating its home page, based on a
checklist of criteria, such as its currency, content, authority, ease of
navigation, etc. I used Dr. Nancy Everhart's "Web Page Evaluation
Worksheet," located at http://www.duke.edu/~de1/evaluate.html. I requested
her permission to distribute it to the class, and she was very generous
and granted it.

The focus of the second exercise was web accessibility for persons with
disabilities. I had the class take the same site they used in the first
exercise, and run it through the Bobby accessibility validator located at
http://www.cast.org/bobby/. In this way, the participants could determine
whether a page had barriers to accessibility and how they could be
overcome.

Both of these exercises led to lively discussion among the participants
(they worked in pairs).  We had a large class (about 40 people), but in a
smaller one, you could also have a large group discussion, with each pair
(or individual, depending on size), presenting their findings.

I hope this is helpful to you. Good luck with your class!

Erica Lilly
Coordinator, Electronic Information Services
Libraries and Media Services
Kent State University
Kent, OH 44242



On Sun, 18 Apr 1999, Sarah E Mcdaniel wrote:

> I will be teaching a half-day workshop next week called "Teaching the
> Internet" to a group of librarians.  I teach workshops on Internet Topics
> at the academic library where I work.  I am trying to come up with
> activities which would be particularly meaningful to people who will  be
> training others on topics such as the way the web works, evaluating web
> sites, and selecting and using search tools.  Any sucessful collaborative
> or individual activities would be very useful.
>
> Thanks so much,
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Sarah McDaniel
> Home:  smcdniel@csd.uwm.edu
> UWM:   smd@gml.lib.uwm.edu
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>