Jane E. Alexander and Marsha Ann Tate, Web Wisdom: How to Evaluate and Create Information Quality on the Web (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, 1999).

Advocacy (58)

• Seeks to influence people' opinion on something
• Seeks to influence the legislative process
• Encourages contributions of money
• Tries to influence voters
• Promotes a cause
• Attempts to increase membership in an organization
• Provides a point of contact for like-minded people
• Example: Sierra Club

Business (63)

• Promotes a product or service
• Provides customer support
• Makes the company's catalog available online
• Provides product updates or new versions of the product
• Provides documentation about a product
• Requests information about a person's lifestyle, demographics, or finances
• Example: Micromat

Informational (70)

• Provides factual information about a topic
• Provides statistical information
• Provides the results of research
• Provides a schedule or calendar of events
• Provides transportation schedules
• Provides information such as that contained in a reference book
• Provides a directory of names or businesses
• Provides a list of course schedules
• Example: Library of Congress

News (82)

• Provides current information on local, regional, national, or international events
• Provides current information of a specific topic such as business, computers, or entertainment
• Example: Washington Post

Personal (88)

• Has as its author a person or family with no official organizational affiliation
• Consists of personal expression on hobbies or pastimes, personally authored literature, personal opinions on a topic
• Example: Hawking Home Page

Entertainment (91)

• Includes games or other activities with the primary purpose of providing enjoyment
• Includes music, animation, or video intended primarily to entertain its users
• Example: Blue Mountain