
doi: 10.1007/bf02940949
TEXTBOOK CONTENT is one of the most significant influences on faculty’s course planning decisions, but with the growth of the World Wide Web in recent years, the nature of the textbook has changed considerably. Many publishers now offer Web-based supplements to social science textbooks, but no tools exist for instructors to evaluate the resources that these supplements offer. Building on the work of Wilkinson, Bennett, and Oliver (1997), I develop evaluation criteria for these supplements in order to measure how a textbook Web site can enhance teaching and learning. The metric includes measures of site access and usability, resource identification and documentation, information structure and design, navigation within the document, quality of links, aesthetic and affective aspects, and pedagogical/disciplinary needs. Examples of applications of the criteria to popular sociology texts are provided.
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 3 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Average | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Average |
