Psychology
- URL #1 and Date of Visit:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/schizophrenia/basics/definition/CON-20021077
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
- An Appraisal of the Format in Which the Material is Presented at the First URL Site:
The landing webpage of the first URL that I have evaluated is easy to read. It is also easy to navigate and has a webpage search feature. Additionally, for easy browsing, it has breadcrumb trails that appear horizontally across its webpages for in-backlink. It contains contact details, especially when requesting for a medical appointment. Additionally, should I be looking for a doctor or job, I can simply click on the hyperlinks. If I am a Mayo Clinic patient, I can log in. Likewise, there are social networking widgets (for example, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Youtube, and Pinterest) for sharing, liking, and commenting. Specific contents in its webpages are presented in simple and straightforward manner, wherein logos and ad images appear. Nonetheless, other than ads on the right pane, it showcase its products and services on the left pane, as well as, free electronic newsletter and sign up page. Below the webpages are related links and other topics in patient care and health information. It also has a sitemap, terms and conditions, privacy policy, and notice of privacy practices. Further, I have not found any dead links. All, if not most, hyperlinks work. The site is generally user-friendly because of its simple design.
Overall, the general appearance (or visual aspects) of the website has an organized way of presenting information.
4. Three Things you Learned From Visiting the Site. If you Didn't Think the Site was Very Good, Give Three Reasons why you Formed this Opinion:
The three things that I learned from visiting the site include the information about schizophrenia: its meaning, symptoms, causes, risk factors, complications, tests and diagnosis, treatments and drugs, coping and support, and prevention. For the said psychological condition, the Mayo Clinic website contains many other valuable resources, especially for testing and procedures. Second, I also learned how to try making an appointment. Third, I understood what it means for a website to be considered a trustworthy site. Because of the site, I learned that information can be presented sequentially and meaningfully.
I rate the site nine out of 10-star rating (where 10 is highest).
- URL #1 and Date of Visit:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia/index.shtml
20 February 2014
US National Institutes of Health
- An Appraisal of the Format in Which the Material is Presented at the First URL Site:
At the topmost part of the landing webpage of the second URL that I have evaluated, its name (that is, National Institute of Health) appears in the uppermost left side of the webpage. Opposite it is the “Contact Us” and “Get Email Updates.” It also has its byword: “Transforming the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses.” For easy searching, it has a search engine feature. Additionally, it has breadcrumb trails that appear horizontally across its webpages for in-backlink. Immediately below the breadcrumb trails is the mental illness, Schizophrenia.
The label on schizophrenia on the left pane moves simultaneously with each scroll down or up. When a label is clicked, it will go down directly to the specific content on schizophrenia. Moreover, on the right pane, there are the share buttons for Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. Also, there is the “Science News About Schizophrenia,” Posts from the NIH Director, publication about the mental illness, and research results. At the bottom of the webpage are other widgets, especially Bookmark & Share, Newsletter, RSS Feeds, Youtube, and other more. As a government website, it has the logos of the institution and US government. Other features at the bottom page include the Contact Us, Staff Directories, Privacy Notice, Policies, FOIA, Accessibility, and Topic Finder.
Overall, the general appearance (or visual aspects) of the website shows an organized way of presenting information.
- Three Things you Learned From Visiting the Site. If you Didn't Think the Site was Very Good, Give Three Reasons why you Formed this Opinion:
The three things that I learned from visiting the website include the information about schizophrenia: its definition, causes, people at risk, signs and symptoms, living with the mental illness, and clinical trials. The NIH website contains many other valuable resources, especially concerning help with the illness. Second, I also learned how to explore more the other links within the site, especially regarding outreach, research priorities, funding, labs, news, and related information. Third, I understood that this government-owned website is a credible and trustworthy one. \
I rate the site nine out of 10-star rating (where 10 is highest).
Feel free to compare your two sites.
If a friend were seeking information on this topic, would you recommend one over the other? Both? Neither?
The two sites on schizophrenia are both good online resources for students, educators, researchers, and other professionals. Both of the contents of the two URLs do not require too much updating because they mostly have basic information about Schizophrenia. Most of the hyperlinks are active or not dead. The first URL’s contents are similar in many ways to the second URL’s. The contents are important, relevance, and informative. Most of the basic information about schizophrenia can be used for a variety of educational, medical, and research purposes.
The two websites are similar in many ways in the way they present what the illness is: its meaning, symptoms, causes, risks factors, etc. However, I prefer more the NIH website because the labels move when I scroll down or up the page. Unlike in the Mayo Clinic site, I have to click the hyperlink. How about if I suddenly lost access to the Internet? I can no longer view the remaining contents or webpages for schizophrenia. Likewise, when saving the webpage, the NIH site presents schizophrenia in a single webpage (that is, about the basic information on definition, symptoms, causes, and so on).
I used Cornell University Library’s six evaluation criteria for websites: authority, accuracy, currency, value, coverage, and objectivity. First, NIH, as a government website, is a more authoritative site than Mayo Clinic, which is a privately-owned company. Although the NIH site did mention the author of the article on schizophrenia, it is self-evident that it comes from a credible source. Likewise, though the Mayo Clinic article is also credible because I compare it with that of NIH’s, its author is “anonymous” or simply Mayo Clinic staff. It is better if the author of the article is a medical doctor as it appears on the webpage. I have seen other credible and reputable websites where the authors are doctorate (for instance, MD, PhD).
Second, both websites contain error-free and reliable information, except that NIH has no reference section but Mayo Clinic has. The reputable company and organization serve as the publishers responsible for the accuracy of their content articles. The NIH site, with regards to the third criterion of currency, I cannot say if it is updated because the article does not have a date (n.d.). Unlike in the Mayo Clinic, it is updated (January 24, 2014). For both sites, fortunately, there are no dead hyperlinks.
Fourth, both contents in the two sites are nearly equally valuable. Fifth, the webpage(s) (or websites) cover sufficiently enough information. However, in the six criterion, there could be a minimum of bias because the Mayo Clinic site resorts to advertisers for additional profit. The Mayo Clinic site has many advertisers for it to have extra profits.
The Mayo Clinic and NIH websites both offer informative, insightful, and substantial contents. Both sites are free of grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors. Should my friend seek information about schizophrenia, I would equally recommend both of them.
Works Cited
Cornell University Library. Five criteria for evaluating Web pages. 28 June 2010. Web. 21 March 2014. <http://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/ref/research/webcrit.html>.
Mayo Clinic Staff. Schizophrenia. 24 January 2014. Web. 20 February 2014. <http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/schizophrenia/basics/definition/CON-20021077>.
National Institutes of Health. Schizophrenia. n.d. Web. 20 February 2014. <http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia/index.shtml>.
