Website: CIA World Factbook
Copyright date and/or Last Update: Unless a copyright is indicated, information on the Central Intelligence Agency Web site is in the public domain and may be reproduced, published or otherwise used without the Central Intelligence Agency's permission. The website is updated on a bi-weekly basis.
Author/Organization Credentials: The Central Intelligence Agency's Office of Public Affairs manages the overall information content, design, and, organization of the Web site. The Central Intelligence Agency has been in operation since 1947 and is a civilian agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior United States policymakers.
Web Site Design and Ease of Navigation: This website is a sub-page of CIA.gov. The website is fairly user friendly and easy to navigate. The only true hindrances to navigation are the sheer amount of links available. There are no pop-ups or ads to contend with when surfing this page. The smaller text on the main page is a grey font set on a white background and rather small so it can be difficult to read for those with impaired vision. The main page contains a search bar in the upper right underneath the title. The main navigation links are located along a column on the left hand side of the page. These links cover numerous topics throughout the CIA main website. Links that navigate the Factbook itself are located in tabs across the upper middle of the page. These contain links to contact information and appendices. The main form of navigation for the website is through a drop down box just above these main tabs. Use is fairly simple, you just click on the drop down which then lists all the recognized nations of the world. Once you choose a nation to study just click on said nation and page will bring up all relevant information. The format will be fairly similar to anyone who has utilized Facebook in the past. Underneath this are four featured links to things such as regional maps and flags of the world. To the right of these links is a "what's new" box containing recent updates to the website.
Response and Recommendation for Use: This website is extremely useful for many different types of assignments. I myself have utilized the information contain therein on numerous occasions throughout my educational journey. This website could be utilized for students in middle or high school permitting proper navigational instruction is given beforehand. The uses for this site range from in class instruction to use as a resource for research papers and projects. I would suggest assigning a group of students a nation to do an in-depth research paper over, utilizing this website as the primary source of information. Then, once the research is complete the students can give a presentation to the entire class over their respectively assigned nations.
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