Evaluating websites

Any website must be viewed with caution and users can use certain techniques and strategies to evaluate the content. Questions regarding the authority of the authors, the accuracy and currency of the information, and the purpose of the site can be asked, and if answered satisfactorily, this is a good site.

Good websites cater for a particular audience, whether it be adults, scholars or children, and the content, purpose and layout must be suitable.

Should a patron wish to join an online book discussion club, I would recommend a site like "guardian book club". This is hosted by a professor of english at a university college, and discusses various topics and themes. His name and qualifications can be verified on google.

Should that site not be to their liking, perhaps they could try "the book club online". One must register to join so the assumption is that someone is in control of the site and content. Information about the organisation will be present somewhere on the site.

There are various groups to join in discussing books, such as popular websites like "yahoo book club" and "google book club".This depends on the users preference and a quick visit to see if the content (and the links) are still active and/or fairly current is recommended. At the moment Yahoo caters to fans of "Twilight", Diana Gabaldon and paranormal, mystery and regency romance among others. Google features Stephen King, Terry Pratchett etc.

All these group discussions enable one not only to discuss their current reading matter but also to discover other similar books and authors.

Online book suggestions can be found easily on "The Book Seer", merely by following the prompt. Suggestions are supplied by Amazon and LibraryThing, both reputable suppliers of books and information pertaining to books. Being online, these are totally up to date and new items added continuously.I did not really like LibraryThing.

"What should I read next" is my favourite, and appears in most libraries in hard copy as well as being available online. The recommendations are very apt as I have been pleasantly surprised with their suggestions. The authority of the publishers and contributors are stated in the hard copy book. The content and layout is nicely laid out.