Persian websites for children and teenagers in Iran Hassan Behzadi and Mahdi Zahedi Noghabi 20 LIBRARY HI TECH NEWS Number 2 2010, pp. 20-22, # Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 0741-9058, DOI 10.1108/07419051011050448 Introduction Over the past several years, the Internet has become important for research and communication for children. Children use the internet and associated digital tools to do their school assignments, for recreation, and for social experiences (Druin, 2005). There are two major reasons that the Internet has become important for children: first, they need computers and the information available on the Internet for their studies; and second, the Internet provides information on a variety of beliefs and thoughts (Mohammadnezhad, 2005). One study found that 60 percent of children know what a homepage is, but may not be aware of the role of a book’s introduction. Fifty-seven percent of children know what hard disk is, while only one-third of them knew what hard cover books are (Marvi, 2002). For children, the internet is a portal that makes them aware of cultures in different parts of the world. It also helps children to analyze their own culture critically and share this information with others (Lea, 2001). In 1997, according to studies of Grunwald institute, the number of American children between the ages of two and 17, who used the Internet, was 8 million. By 2000, it reached 25 million, and in 2005, the number was projected to reach 70 percent. Skillful programming and webpage development has made the Internet an important phenomenon for children (Shams, 2001). At the same time, the internet can create difficulties for some children (Durin, 2005). Librarians have an important role in educating children and students about the internet. Librarians must be familiar with principles and methods of analyzing Internet websites in order to help children select the best sites for them and in designing websites themselves. There have been many studies already done on analyzing websites for children outside of Iran. Fidel et al. (1999) found that more than 80 percent of students search information according to a hierarchical system and are not very skillful in their use of websites. Kuntez (2000) introduced five general criteria that can be useful for children to analyze internet searches: the size of information sources, accountability, classification, searching methods, and other properties such as help and spell checkers. A study done by Bilal and Kirby (2002) analyzed differences and similarities of information searches of website between children and adults. They found that 89 percent of adults could reach their favorite results, compared with only 50 percent for children. Stevenson (2001) analyzed various educational web portals and classified them. Krock (2002) selected 610 databases and found them to be potentially useful even though they were not well structured. Gilute and Nielsen (2002) examined 55 children and 24 websites which were designed for them. They found that websites such as Amazon and Yahoo! are easier for children to use, whereas many other websites are too complex and difficult to use because of poor navigational confirmation, inconsistent navigation, and non-standard interaction options. Cooper (2002) examined children’s writing in relation to their physical and social development and their likelihood of successful communication in the digital environment. Large et al. (2002) recommended involving children in the process of designing websites to increase their usefulness. Nielsen (2005) analyzed how teenagers between the age of 13 and 17 use the Internet in which 23 websites were examined. Teens desired websites with more interactivity, graphics, and tend to focus on design to a great extent than adults. Madden et al. (2006) found that search success by teens related to experience and advice by parents and others. Study design and results The goals of this study were to examine: the condition of Persian websites for children and teenagers in terms of site support, design, contents, and promotion. We also examined and difference of websites which are supported by the government. The methodology we used in this study was based on the criteria of the American Library Association’s Association for Library Services to Children’s ‘‘Great websites for kids.’’ This study examined websites that were found in the first ten pages of Google search results using different words and phrases such as children, teenagers, website, child, teen, site, and sites. In general, 19 phrases were searched and the result was 1,900 websites. We then limited our study to those sites designed particularly for children and omitted those sites that were partly designed for children, which resulted in 18 Persian websites. Two of these sites could not be accessed due to technical problems which limited our study to 16 websites. We analyzed websites in terms of authorship/sponsorship, design, content, and arrangement. Table I indicates that among the 16 websites studied, seven of them met less than half of the criteria. Website authorship was analyzed by ten factors including: the name of the author, contacts, and free usage possibilities. The factors used to analyze design included factors such as colors, pictures, animations, and audio or video