Evaluation of Websites for the Universities in Tamil Nadu: An Analytical Study

Abstract

India is a computer-literate and Internet-savvy country. In general, the academic community in the country has pioneered the establishment and use of the Internet. Additionally, Tamil Nadu universities have been the leading institutions in the country in creating Web sites. As a result of these developments, academic institutions have been in a more privileged position to set up Web sites than other types of institutions. Their presence on the Web implies the desire of academic institutions in Tamil Nadu to provide better and more services to their students, faculty and Public. Although much of the resources have been committed to create and maintain academic institutions Web sites, there has been so little effort in evaluating the sites. The present evaluation paradigm is developed and designed against the background of general evaluation criteria of Web sites. These criteria are accuracy, authority, currency, relevancy, and stability of information. Since there is a lack of effort to examine the quality of information, a number of general criteria such as author’s qualifications, objectivity, and coverage should be further used in evaluating information content provided by academic institution Web sites.