| Name of Web Site | (Name of First Web Site)
GirlTech |
Name of Second Web Site)
Girls Inc.
|
| What is the URL? | www.girltech.com | www.girlsinc.org/gc/ |
| Is there a recognizable sponsor of the web site? Who is it? Will it be possible to find background information about this sponsor? | There is no sponsor, but the site is owned by Radica Games. You can find out information about them by going to radicagames.com. Girl Tech was bought by Radica games in 1998. | no |
| Has descriptive information about the sponsor been provided, either on the opening page or via an “about us” link? | no | NA |
| Is there an address, phone number, or fax number provided for the sponsor? | no | NA |
| Is a personal author identified for the information, articles, or documents presented at the web site? | no | no |
| If an author is identified, is it clear what his/her credentials are? | NA | NA |
| Is there a way to contact the author? | NA | NA |
| Will it be possible to find background information about the author? | NA | NA |
Scope and Purpose
| Does the content appear to be fact or opinion? | fact | both |
| What is the scope or purpose of this web site? | The purpose of this site is to encourage girls ages 8-12 to use technology by enjoying the website and electronic products that are made for girls. | Girls Inc. is a national nonprofit organization inspiring girls to be strong, smart and bold. |
| Does the information presented here seem to be complete and comprehensive? What is included? What is excluded? | The information is very comprehensive.
The links included in this site are: Club Girl Tech: an educational section, Chick Chat: monitored forum for communication, Girl Galaxy: introduces girls to female role modes, InventHER: using creativity through invention, OurSports: features female athletes and girls sports, Girl Views: news section, TechTrips: links to girls sites on the internet, Game Cafe: math and word games for girls that can be played on line (for here) or off line ( to go), Bow-Tique: on line store There is no live chat on the site for monitoring and safety reasons. |
The information presented here is not very complete or comprehensive. There is a homepage that includes the following links: strong girls, smart girls, bold girls, inspiring girls, contact us, guestbook, shop, links and bill of rights. There is not a lot for girls to actually do on the site. The shop link is not up yet. |
How can you tell? Is the scope described
|
The scope is described in the FAQ section. There is also a guided tour of the site, a message to parents, a privacy policy and rules of the site. | The scope is described in the "learn more about girls
incorporated" link, which is actually the parent site.
There is no FAQ section, but you can find out about Girls Inc. on www.girlsinc.org |
| How does this site compare to similar information elsewhere? | This site is well constructed and they seem to have done a lot of research to keep their site updated, interesting and inoffensive to girls. | While I found both of these sites in a digital divide gender inequality search, this site does not offer much to girls in the way of technology. It is more spiritual, which is fine, but not what I was looking for. |
| How is this database (website) structured? | The website is structured with links. | The web site is structured with links. |
| Are there links provided to other sources of information on this same topic? Is it clear how these links are selected? | The links provided in the Tech Trips sections include over 300 sites on the internet that Girl Tech has reviewed. They say they update it continually. In Tech Trips, you can go to "info about linking" where they explain how and why they choose the links for the site. The sites must be gender neutral, progirl or girl friendly and provide a safe, fun environment. They urge girls to send feedback to the company if they find a link offensive. | The links are provided for sports, math, science, technology, money
smart and crime prevention.
They state they have conducted research to provide these links, but mention in their privacy policy that they are not responsible. |
| Are the links reliable? Do they get you where you need to go? | I did find a couple of dead links when I was using this site, but most of them worked well. The "click here if you're a boy" link does not work. Back to the top link only works on the homepage. | I found many dead links and links not responding, but some were interesting. |
Accuracy
| How accurate is this information? | The information appears to accurate. | The information includes some history and facts about famous women, but also a lot of opinion. |
| How can you tell? | There is a lot of information on this site about how and why they choose what will be included on the site. The rules of the site, FAQ, privacy policy and guided tour will all tell you about the site. | It is more about building spirit and character in girls than giving them information. |
| When statistics and other factual data are presented is it cited so that one can verify it? | yes | no |
| Are tables, charts, and graphs clear and easy to understand? | They utilized a few tables and they were easy to understand. | NA |
| Is there any bibliography? | Yes, if you go into the parents and media section, you can find many articles relating to girls and technology. | no |
| Is the document generally well-written? Free of spelling mistakes and typographical errors? | yes
I found it very easy to read. |
yes |
Objectivity
Check the domain to ascertain possible reasons
for the provision of this information
|
.com | .org- non profit organization |
Is the subject controversial? If so,
|
The subject is not controversial because they tell you up front that
the site is intended for girls. There is a "click here if you're a
boy" link on the home page, but every time I tried it , it went to
the girl chat page.
The information is not free from advertising, because it is owned by Radica and they are selling their technology products. |
While it isn't really controversial, it is an advocacy group for girls
and they only have one viewpoint.
It is free from advertising. |
| Is the information free from advertising? | No, there is an advertisement banner at the top of the homepage featuring the technology games from Radica. | yes |
Currancy
Are any of the following dates provided?
|
Created and modified on 11/05/01 | Created and modified on 11/05/01 |
| When was this site last updated? How can you tell? Is there any information on how often the site is updated? | According to the properties, the site was updated on 11/05/01. They state that it is "updated continually". | According to the properties, the site was updated on 11/05/01. They do not give any information about how often it is updated. |
| What was updated? | The bulletin Board is updated each Friday and is edited for content. | They don't provide this information. |
| How does the creation of the database stay current? | updates | updates |
| In cases where there is statistical data or factual data is it indicated when that data was gathered? | No, but you can go to Press Releases from as far back as 1995 to learn more about the company. | no |
| Does the information seem out of date? | no | no |
| How stable is this site, its address and its information? Is it here today and gone (or moved) tomorrow? | They have been around since 1995. | Girls Incorporated has been around for 55 years. I have been visiting the site for a couple of weeks. Some other sites I discovered in the same search are no longer there. |
Arrangement and Format
| How easy is it to find and use this site? | Easy, I found it when I did a search for the digital divide and gender inequality. | easy |
| How convenient is it? | It is convenient. | It is convenient, but not extremely relevant to the search I did. |
| How well-organized? | I thought it was well organized, except for the homepage. | It is well organized. |
| How quickly can you usually get to this site? Get around the site? | I did not have any trouble getting to this site. I could usually get to it in seconds. It is easy to get around if you don't use the "back to the top" link. | You can usually get to the site is seconds and it is easy to get around. |
| How appropriate is the format of the database for its intended audience? | It is appropriate for girls ages 8-12. | The format of the database is easy for young girls to use. My daughter had no problem with it. |
| Does the information seem out of date? | no | no |
| Are there any hardware, software, or multimedia requirements? | no | no |
Design Considerations
| Does it function well with different browsers? | I had no trouble with Netscape Explorer. | I had no trouble with Netscape Explorer. |
| Is too much filler used? | no | no |
| Is it obvious when you leave to a different site? | Yes because there is a purple banner at the top of the Girl Tech pages. | Yes, because they have a red banner across most of their pages. |
Layout Considerations
| Enough white space? | Yes, except on the homepage. | Yes |
| Overdone styles? | The homepage is overdone because it is hard to read purple lettering on an orange background. I thought the homepage was a little distracting. | No |
| Too many links? | no | no |
| Links with too many words? | no | no |
| Textual descriptions too brief or too long? | no | I would make some of the textual descriptions shorter. |
| Use of color? | I enjoyed the bright colors used on this site except the orange on the homepage. I thing young girls would like the colors they have used. | They used mostly yellow, blue and red. I found it appealing. Young girls might find it a little dull. |
Graphics
| Do the graphics relate to the surrounding text? | yes | They used mostly photos and pictures of girls. They do relate to the text. |
| Do the graphics provide important information? | no | no |
| Does the size of the graphics relate to the page content? | yes | yes |
| Are pictures missing? | no | no |
| What is the quality of the graphics? | good | They are ok. |
| How long does it take for the graphics to display? | seconds | seconds |
| Are textual descriptions of graphics provided when a text-based browser is used? | NA | NA |
| Are the textual descriptions appropriate? | NA | NA |
Help Information
| Is “help” provided? | no | no |
| Is “help” information easy to find? | NA | NA |
| How helpful is the “help” information? | NA | NA |
| If “help” isn't provided, should it be provided? | The site is pretty easy to use. I didn't really see the need for "help". | no |
| On a scale of 1 to 10 (1=poor, 10=superior), rate each web site. | For content and living up to their purpose I would give this site a 9. | 5 |
Feedback Information
| Are opportunities for feedback provided? | yes: yes
feedback form 800-374-4475 800-854-9551 800-221-2606 |
|
| Are feedback opportunities easy to find? | Yes, they are located in different areas: FAQ, more information, about the site, and schools. | Yes, there is "contact us" on the top banner. |
Overall Feel and Look
| How well organized is the site? | It is easy to navigate through this site. You can always get back to the homepage. | The organization is fair. You have to use the back arrow to get home. |
| Are the pages consistent from page to page? | Yes, except for the homepage, there is a purple banner at the top of each page. | yes |
| How easy is it to locate important information? | easy | Easy, although I didn't find too much important information. |
| On a scale of 1 to 10 (1=poor, 10=superior), rate each web site. | While I enjoyed using this site, I have to rate it a 7 because I didn't like the homepage and because of the ineffective "back to the top link". Other than that, I found it well organized and fun. | I would rate this site a 5. It didn't offer much . |