On Beyond Books links pages, websites are rated on a scale of one owl (good) to five owls (excellent). Beyond Books editors scour the web for educational resources. When they find a site they want to link to, they fill in a score sheet that rates the site in each of the following categories (categories are somewhat different for science programs). The computer uses a formula to determine the owl rating for that site.
| Owl rating categories for non-science programs |
- Esteem/Authority: Is the source of the material from a university, highly esteemed institution, or respected web resource?
- Reliability: Is the author of the resource a reliable source of information?
- Attractiveness: Does the site have well-organized navigation? Does it have an attractive design?
- Positive External Review: Has the website or its content received positive reviews?
- Depth: How comprehensive is the treatment of the subject? Is it just a few paragraphs long, or is there deeper exploration?
- Primary Source Material: Does the website contain primary source material?
- Graphics/Pictures: Does the website feature pictures, maps, or charts that are helpful for understanding the subject?
- Uniqueness: Is the subject matter something that is extremely hard to find on the Internet?
| Owl rating categories for science |
- Esteem/Authority: Is the source of the material from a university, highly esteemed institution, or respected web resource?
- Scientific Clarity: Are the scientific concepts clearly explained and are they well-organized?
- Good Page Design: Is the page layout attractive? Can visitors easily navigate to related sections?
- On Target: How well does the website correlate with the subject material on the focus area page?
- Relevant Depth: How comprehensive is the treatment of the subject?
- Readability: Are the vocabulary and syntax intelligible and grade-level appropriate?
- Graphics/Pictures: Does the website feature pictures, diagrams, or charts that are helpful for understanding the subject?
- Uniqueness: Is the subject matter something that is extremely hard to find on the Internet?
No. Beyond Books staff visit plenty of websites that are not included in Beyond Books programs. Even the one-owl sites stand above much of the material on the Internet.
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