Native American History Websites:
A Comparison of
American Indian Resource: A Library of Native American literature, culture, education, history, issues and language (Karkavelas, Osaka University)
http://cobalt.lang.osaka-u.ac.jp/~krkvls/naindex.html
And
American Indians of the Northwest (American Memory, Library of Congress and University of Washington Libraries)
(http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award98/wauhtml/aipnhome.html )
Authority
| Name of Website | Library of
Congress American Memory
|
American Indian Resource: A library of Native American literature, culture, education, history, issues and language. |
| What is the URL? |
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award98/wauhtml/aipnhome.html
|
http://www.lang.osaka-u.ac.jp/~krkvls/naindex.html
|
| Is there a recognizable sponsor of the web site? Who is it? Will it be possible to find background information about this sponsor? | This site is
sponsored by the United States Library of Congress and the University of
Washington Libraries. The Mission and goals of the LC and the National
Digital Library Program are stated on the website. Contact information is
listed below.
|
This site is
sponsored by Osaka University. Contact
information is included below.
|
| Has descriptive information about the sponsor been provided, either on the opening page or via an "about us" link? | Yes.
|
No.
|
| Is there an address, phone number, or fax number provided for the sponsor? | Questions
about the site may be addressed to Gary Menges, Preservation Administrator,
University of Washington at the email address:
menges@u.washington.edu
|
Osaka
University 1-1 Yamadaoka Suite, Osaka 565-0871 Japan Fax number: +81-6-6879-7039 kokusai@user.center.osaka-u.ac.jp |
| Is a personal author identified for the information, articles, or documents presented at the web site? | The author or photographer of each document in the site is identified. | The site is Published by Will Karkavelas, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan |
| If an author is identified, is it clear what his/her credentials are? | No individual author is noted. However, the homepage states that the documents are digitized material from The University of Washington, the Cheney Cowles Museum, the Eastern Washington State Historical Society in Spokane and the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle, WA. | Mr.
Karkavelas earned his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in
1974. He is a visiting lecturer of the faculty of Language and Culture at
Osaka University in Osaka, Japan.
http://www.osaka-u.ac.jp/annai/cgi-bin/esyousai.cgi?S=15001&K=118 (Accessed 12/18/02)
|
| Is there a way to contact the author? | No. | The only contact information listed is "Will Karkavelas. Osaka University and the web address listed in the previous question. |
| Will it be possible to find background information about the author? | No background information is provided. | No background information is provided, |
Scope and Purpose
| Does the content appear to be fact or opinion? | The information in this site is factual. | The information this site is factual. | |
| What is the scope or purpose of this web site? | The materials gathered in this site illustrate numerous aspects of American Indians in the areas of the Pacific Northwest, the Northwest Coast and Plateau. Included is information on the life and work of the American Indians. Topics covered include housing, clothing, crafts, transportation, education, and employment. | The purpose of this site is to provide resources and criteria to identify evaluate WWW resources about Native American people. | |
| Does the information presented here seem to be complete and comprehensive? What is included? What is excluded? |
Information included in this site is selective. Information on American Indians of the Pacific Northwest is selected from the collections of the University of Washington Libraries and the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle, and the Cheney Cowles Museum/Eastern Washington State Historical Society in Spokane. |
The information in this site is selective. The primary users will be college students and professors. | |
How can you tell? Is the
scope described
|
The project overview states "This online collection represents only a selection of materials on American Indians of the Pacific Northwest in the collections of the University of Washington Libraries and the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle, and the Cheney Cowles Museum/Eastern Washington State Historical Society in Spokane." An overview of the project (available at: http://content.lib.washington.edu/aipnw/aip-overview.html )states that the materials are selective, not comprehensive. | The purpose of the site is to provide guidelines for identifying and evaluating accurate online information sources that do not exploit. The author notes that these guidelines are neither all-inclusive nor foolproof | |
| How does this site compare to similar information elsewhere? | The purposes and intended audiences of these two websites are different. The American Memory site is more likely to be used by students in upper elementary and high school while the American Indian Resource is more suitable for college students. | ||
| How is this database structured? | These documents are part of the American Memory: Historical Collections for the National Digital Library. It is a digitized photo collection arranged alphabetically by subject. Each picture is followed by a brief description, attribution, notes, subject heading, the collection source of the item, reproduction number and digital ID. | The sites is divided into 11 sections: Native American Studies, Culture, Education, History, etc. Each Section is composed of documents on topics relevant to the subject. | |
| Are there links provided to other sources of information on this same topic? Is it clear how these links are selected? | The links lead to other pages within the Library of Congress website. | External links to primarily .edu sites were available. | |
| Are the links reliable? Do they get you where you need to go? | The links worked. | While most of the links worked, a few did not. | |
Accuracy
| How accurate is this information? | The Information is accurate. | The information is accurate. |
| How can you tell? | The material comes from reputable sources of information including the University of Washington Libraries, the Cheney Cowles Museum/Eastern Washington State Historical Society in Spokane, and the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle. | The site linked the reader to many educational (.edu) resources. |
| When statistics and other factual data are presented is it cited so that one can verify it? | Statistics were not included. | Statistics were not included. |
| Are tables, charts, and graphs clear and easy to understand? | N.A. | N.A. |
| Is there any bibliography? | No bibliography is included.. | In one sense, the American Indian Resource, is itself, a bibliography. The site includes links to a myriad of resources, some of which have their own bibliographies. However, there is not a bibliography for the site as a whole. |
| Is the document generally well-written? Free of spelling mistakes and typographical errors? | The material is well-written. I noticed no spelling errors. | This website is more a compilation of writings rather than one document. As a whole, the material is well written and well organized. |
Objectivity
Check the domain to
ascertain possible reasons for the provision of this information
|
This is an educational (edu.) site. The purpose is to provide materials that could be used in American history classes. It should be noted that the site is co-sponsored by the Library of Congress. "The goal of the National Digital Library Program is to offer broad public access to a wide range of historical and cultural documents as a contribution to education and lifelong learning." | This site provides access to information which may be useful to students in a Native American Studies programs. While created at the University of Osaka in Japan, the resources will be of interest to college students worldwide. |
Is the subject
controversial? If so,
|
The perspective that
seems to be missing here is that of the Native American. While informative,
I felt that the perspective of the Native American people was not addressed.
The authors of the essays are from well-respected colleges and universities. Credentials of the photographers are not noted
|
This reviewer did not think the subject was controversial. American Indian Resources provides access to many native American materials. The bias was clearly towards academic research material. |
| Is the information free from advertising? | No advertising is included. | There was no advertising on the website. |
Currency
Are any of the following
dates provided?
|
The only date on the
site, April 15, 2000, does not specify whether this is a creation, post or
revision date.
|
The website listed a copyright date of 1997-2002. |
| When was this site last updated? How can you tell? Is there any information on how often the site is updated? | As noted on the homepage, the American Indians of the Pacific Northwest page was updated on April 15, 2000. | The site was last updated on February 19, 2002. |
| What was updated? | Material updated is not specified. | Material updated is not specified. |
| How does the creation of the database stay current? | The copyright for American Indians of the Pacific Northwest is held by the University of Washington. The site notes an update on April 15, 2000. | The copyright date of 1997-2002 suggests that the website is regularly maintained. |
| In cases where there is statistical data or factual data is it indicated when that data was gathered? | No date is given . | N.A. |
| Does the information seem out of date? | The information is up-to-date. | The site includes many separate documents, but the site as a whole is up-to-date. |
| How stable is this site, its address and its information? Is it here today and gone (or moved) tomorrow? | The site is stable. | I had no trouble returning to this site on subsequent visits |
Arrangement and Format
| How easy is it to find and use this site? | The site is easy to navigate. | Information easily accessible. |
| How convenient is it? | Convenience is not a problem. | This is a convenient site. |
| How well-organized? | The site is well-organized. | The site is well-organized, |
| How quickly can you usually get to this site? Get around the site? | I had no difficulty gaining access to, or navigating in, this website. | The site opens quickly. |
| How appropriate is the format of the database for its intended audience? | The format is appropriate for school-age children through high school. | The format is appropriate for adults and high school students. |
| Does the information seem out of date? | The information does not appear to be outdated. | The documents on this site are appropriate for adults and some high school students. |
| Are there any hardware, software, or multimedia requirements? | A PC with an Internet connection are needed to search this collection. | A PC with an Internet connection are needed to search this collection. |
Design Considerations
| Does it function well with different browsers? | I found the Library of Congress site easily in Netscape. The desired site was the third link in the search results list. | Pages loaded more slowly in Netscape than in Internet Explorer. Finding the site was a little more difficult in Netscape. However, this may be explained by the fact that I have more experience searching IE than I do in Netscape. |
| Is too much filler used? | No | The site was filled with good solid information; no space was wasted. |
| Is it obvious when you leave to a different site? | Yes | Yes. |
Layout Considerations
| Enough white space? | There is an appropriate amount of unfilled space. | The site is full, but well enough organized that the reader does not feel crowded. |
| Overdone styles? | Style is tastefully done. | The style of the site is attractive. |
| Too many links? | No. | There are a lot of links, but because of the site's layout, the links aren't overdone. Some links need to be updated. |
| Links with too many words? | No. | The links were appropriately descriptive of their destination. |
| Textual descriptions too brief or too long? | No. | While the descriptions were long, this seemed appropriate for the subject matter. |
| Use of color? | The color enhanced the website. | The use of color was tastefully done. |
Graphics
| Do the graphics relate to the surrounding text? | This site is composed primarily of photos and pictures. Brief text was used to identify the graphics | The graphics support the text. |
| Do the graphics provide important information? | The graphics supply essential information. | One of the ways graphics are used in this site is in the decorative background on many of the pages. It is indicative a woven tapestry, perhaps like the traditional native American clothing. While not overtly informative, the background supports the text. |
| Does the size of the graphics relate to the page content? | The size of graphics was appropriate. | Graphics size are appropriate. |
| Are pictures missing? | No pictures were missing | I noticed no missing graphics. |
| What is the quality of the graphics? | Graphics quality was very good. | Quality of the graphics was good. |
| How long does it take for the graphics to display? | Some graphics took a moment to load; others came up immediately. Overall, this was not a problem | For the most part, graphics loaded immediately. I had to wait only a few times. |
| Are textual descriptions of graphics provided when a text-based browser is used? | Textual descriptions are provided with a full screen image of the graphic when you click on the graphic. | Not all graphics provided textual descriptions. |
| Are the textual descriptions appropriate? | Textual descriptions are accurate. | Textual descriptions that were provided were adequate. |
Help Information
| Is "help" provided? | Help is only available from a link on the home page. | I found no "help" information. Frequently, American Indians Resources listed other informative online resources with direct links to those resources. |
| Is "help" information easy to find? | "Help" is available from 3 sources within the site: a link to the Help desk on the home page; a learning page and a FAQ page. | N. A. (See previous question) |
| How helpful is the "help" information? | The learning page offers teachers exercises to help you practice using the American Memory collection. These pages will be helpful to the teacher who takes the time to use them. | N.A. (See above) |
| If "help" isn't provided, should it be provided? | N. A. | This reviewer found no need for help. |
Feedback Information
| Are opportunities for feedback provided? |
Feedback is available from
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/helpdesk/
|
The only feedback available was a link at the very end of the site, "Click here to send new URLs." |
| Are feedback opportunities easy to find? | The link listed above is available on the homepage. Help is not directly accessible from other pages. | You have to look for this link. The only way to find it is to scroll to the end of the website. |
Overall Feel and Look
| How well organized is the site? | The site is well-organized. | I found this site very well organized. |
| Are the pages consistent from page to page? | Page quality is consistently good. | The design was consistent from one page to another; the quality is good. |
| How easy is it to locate important information? | I was able to find general information that I searched for. | Information was very easy to find. |