Website Evaluation

Name of page: Dog Island Free Forever
Address/URL: http://www.thedogisland.com/
Date Accessed: March 31, 2011
How did you find the page? Recommended by teacher


What is the domain of the page? .com
Do you feel that the domain type helps add to or lessen the page’s credibility? I think it lessens the page's credibility. If it was .gov or .edu it would add to the credibility.
Is the author of the page identified? No, but it gives names of those associated with the group such as Xiao Min, President and Co-founder. On the bottom of the page with the copyright date it says The Dog Island-Disclaimer, so I think the author would be an organization.


Does the organization have a reputation for credibility? I googled  for the organization and there was nothing except the website I am validating. I think if this were an actual place, there would be many articles about it. There are also spelling and grammatical errors on the page.
Does the organization explain its purpose, mission, goals, or guiding principles? Yes.
Does the organization provide the names of its officers, editors, staff or other major participants? Yes, there is a list of those involved in the organization and their background information, title, and e-mail address.
Does the organization provide contact information (phone, address, or at least an e-mail address)? It provides e-mail addresses for those listed above, but there is no contact information, let alone a name, for the author of the website.
Does the organization appear to filter the information appearing under its name? No
Does the organization display any obvious signs of bias? Yes, they say all home lives for dogs are bad and
unhealthy.
In conclusion, do you think that this organization is qualified to present the information found on its web page? No
Is the purpose of the page clearly stated? Yes, they want to help dogs in need.
What is or appears to be the purpose of the page? To persuade you to send your dog to the island.
Does the page contain advertisements? Yes
Do the ads distract from the page’s content, affect the page’s reliability, or appear to be the main focus of the page? The ads distract from the page's content because all the ads talk about dog training and that has nothing to do with the island.
Might they be necessary to support the organization responsible for the page? They might be the reason this site is on the web.
Who appears to be the intended audience for this information/page? Dog owners.
Does the level or complexity of information provided, the vocabulary used, and the overall tone of the information/page match your needs? I think if this organization were real, they would user higher level vocabulary. There are even some spelling and grammar mistakes.
When was the information on the page created or last updated? It doesn't say. The copyright lasted until 2010.
Are the dates of articles, news stories, newsletters, reports and other publications given? The event calendar only tells the month and day, not the year. News stories and other publications give no date.
Is the page properly maintained or does it have broken links, outdated events calendars or other signs of neglect? All links work but I don't know if the site is outdated since there are no actual dates.
Is the content peer-reviewed, authenticated by experts, or subject to some sort of editorial scrutiny? No
Does the page display any awards given by reliable sources, or link to favorable site reviews by reliable sources? No
Considering your answers to the previous questions, other observations you’ve made, and your overall sense of the page, how reliable does this source seem? The information given and the overall idea seem phony. It tells of things that are not possible. It doesn't seem reliable.
Do you feel that this source is appropriate for your current assignment or information need? Yes
Would you recommend this source to a friend doing similar research? Yes because it's fun to read and humorous.
What reservations, if any, do you have about the source? Nothing other than it's hard to answer the questions about outdatedness when there aren't any dates with years given.