Emerald | Library Hi Tech | Development and evaluation of SPAT: a web page assessment tool

Development and evaluation of SPAT: a web page assessment tool

Document Information:
Title:	Development and evaluation of SPAT: a web page assessment tool
Author(s):	Elizabeth M. LaRue, (School of Nursing, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA)
Citation:	Elizabeth M. LaRue, (2008) "Development and evaluation of SPAT: a web page assessment tool", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 26 Iss: 2, pp.274 - 286
Keywords:	Consumers, Diabetes, Internet
Article type:	Research paper
DOI:	10.1108/07378830810880360 (Permanent URL)
Publisher:	Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Acknowledgements:	The author would like to acknowledge and thank Ellen Detlefsen for her support and guidance throughout the study.
Abstract:	Purpose – The purpose of this research is to measure the validity and the adoption of a new web page assessment tool called SPAT (Site, Publisher, Audience, Timeliness). Design/methodology/approach – A convenience sample of 37 Certified Diabetes Educators (CDEs) participated in an evaluation of the web page assessment tool SPAT. Four web pages with diabetes content were selected for a pre- and post-test evaluation. A follow-up questionnaire measured adoption of the SPAT tool. Findings – There was a significant difference when using the mnemonic SPAT to evaluate the site, publisher and timeliness of a web page. Using SPAT to evaluate the audience of a web page also showed an improvement. While there was an increase in reviewing the text of a web page for biases after the SPAT intervention, it was not significant. The CDEs easily utilized SPAT with the diabetes content web pages and their successful manipulation of the SPAT tool demonstrated face validity. After learning of SPAT, responses to the follow-up questionnaire revealed adoption of the tool by CDEs. Practical implications – Use of SPAT may enable health care providers to systematically evaluate health-related web page content. Originality/value – SPAT is a novel tool that reinforces a user to practice basic literacy concepts. The value of SPAT is that it is a people centered tool that may easily be used by anyone to evaluate web pages.