By: J.D. Ross
(315) 443-3094
Earlier this month, School of Information Studies (iSchool) faculty members Marilyn Arnone and Ruth Small launched a new automated website evaluation tool for teachers and students.
Called WebCHECK, the site provides a series of instruments that were designed for educators to assess websites they use for class assignments and projects.
The tool was originally designed in 1999, and has been known as WebMAC. With recent advances to website technology, the tool needed to be updated to serve current users.
Information Management graduate student Ryan Backus and Library and Information Science graduate student Julianne Wise worked with Arnone and Small to redesign the site.
Funding for WebCHECK came via a 2012 SPARKS! Ignition Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). SPARKS! Ingition Grant projects are expected to test and evaluate specific innovations that will facilitate the ways in which libraries operate and the services they provide. With this project, Small hopes to the interactive tool that will encompass a broader sense of evaluation.
“We are thrilled that we were able to revise and automate a valuable and popular web resource evaluation instrument and make it freely available to librarians, educators, and others who will use it themselves or teach others to use it,” remarked Arnone.