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The
Investment and Governance Division
uses the
following selection criteria to ensure impartial, quality
link directories. Few resources will meet all criteria; the
offices will balance strengths against shortcomings in evaluating
each resource. Any of these criteria may provide an overwhelming
reason to either select or reject a specific resource.
1.
Purpose
The
purpose of the resource must be clearly stated and fulfill
the stated purpose of the directory.
2.
Audience
The
resource must appeal to the intended users of the directory
and satisfy the needs of this audience.
The language and reading level must be appropriate
to this audience.
3.
Content
The
information should be factual in nature.
The resource should contain original information, or
it can be an index to other related resources not already
listed. Preference
will be given to resources that provide information completely
rather than information that has been abstracted from another
resource or resources.
The
author or provider of the resource should have a commitment
to its ongoing maintenance and stability.
4.
Accuracy
The
information in the resource must be accurate as best as can
be determined. There must be no political or ideological biases. There should be a technically balanced viewpoint, or it should
be clear if it is not.
5.
Authority
The
resource must be provided by a reputable publisher, organization,
or expert. The
author's or provider's qualifications and credentials should
be stated on the website. Sources of information should be
cited and should be verifiable.
6.
Currency
Resources
with more current information will be given preference.
Update frequency is also a major consideration for
some directories.
7.
Scope
The
scope of the resource should match the expectations of the
intended audience. Aspects
of scope may include:
Breadth:
Are all aspects of the subject covered? Depth:
To what level of detail in the subject does the resource go?
Time:
Is the information in the resource limited to certain time
periods?
8.
Uniqueness
A
resource should not duplicate information already available
at resources already in the directory.
Resources with unique and desirable features will be
given preference.
9.
Stability
The
resource is expected to remain available for the foreseeable
future. If the
resource provider requested the addition of the link, the
resource provider must agree to notify the appropriate office
if the link changes.
10.
Format and appearance
The
format of the resource should be intuitive and clearly organized.
The most important content features should be easy
to find. The
resource should be interesting to look at, and any visual
elements should enhance the resource.
11.
Workability
The
resource should be convenient and effective to use.
Aspects
of workability include:
User friendliness:
Is the resource easy to use? Does it respond to a variety
of browsers and connections? Searchability:
How effectively can information be retrieved from the resource?
Is the resource organized in a logical manner to facilitate
searching? Is the organizational scheme appropriate? Is a
useful search engine provided? What operators and ranking
features are available? Is the search engine interface intuitive?
Does the search engine index the whole resource?Connectivity:
Can the resource be accessed with standard equipment and software,
or are there special software, password, or network requirements?
Can the resource be accessed reliably and quickly, or is it
frequently overloaded or offline? Does it support terminal
access as well as graphical browsers?
12.
Cost
Any
resource that requires the user to give a credit card number
or incur any fees to use the site must clearly be indicated
to the user.
Additionally,
the offices will regularly re-evaluate all links using this
selection criteria to determine their ongoing appropriateness.
Any resource that has changed substantially and no longer
meets the selection criteria will be removed. Any resource
may also be replaced by a comparable resource that better
meets the selection criteria.
Email your comments or suggestions for new links.
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