Module 4: Evaluating the Web

This is where I am kind of regretting my choice for the searching evaluation now! Mmmm Red Velvet Cake sure is tasty but it's not going to come up well in this evaluation.

The three best hits from the .edu search aren't going to offer a lot of depth or validity. Two of the three sites are student sites. To get the most out of this task I'll be using the second site:

What's Cooking for the Holidays?
A Celebration of Georgia Piedmont Baking Traditions

which actually is listed as "Untitled Document"

Annotation
The page on the University of West Georgia site, What's Cooking for the Holidays is part of an oral history project conducted by the University's Center for Public History, in association with the Southern Foodways Alliance at the University of Mississippi. The project is to document the types of baking conducted in that local region. Dr Ann McCleary, a member of the faculty at the University of West Georgia whose research interests focuses American social and cultural history, is the contact for the project. This site outlines baking traditions of the local region and interviews with women who have upheld these values with traditional methods and recipes. One aspect of the project was to develop a cookbook and website detailing the recipes and the author's memories of the recipe and traditions behind it to educate others and to place value on the traditions and the role of women in the local history of that region. The site contains many recipes considered to traditional southern food such as Red Velvet Cake, Sweet Potato Pie and Old Time Chocolate Pie.

1. in terms of your own future use, which 'body ' of information (ie. the original 'snapshot' of the site, or your own, annotated, analytical version) would be most useful to refer back to?

The original 'snapshot' of the site doesn't capture the depth and any relevant background information. The above analytical snapshot gives a much broader view and is more useful as a resource tool.

2. In term of external users (i.e. if you included this site as a hyperlink or resource on a website) which body of information would best help them judge if the site was useful or of interest to them?

In terms of a recipe for Red Velvet Cake, all searches at all stages of the task have provided this information. In terms of the history of Red Velvet Cake, and Southern baking, the analytical snapshot gives a broad overview and will help the user establish quickly whether the site is worth perusing.