As an alternative evaluation method of electromagnetic shielding properties, the material parameters are considered in determining the qualitative value of shielding effectiveness. The specimens are metallized nylon fabrics with the thickness of about 0.1 mm and the electrical conductivities in the range from 6.4$ imes$10~2.4$ imes$10(sup)5 mhos/m. On the basis of shielding theory, the shielding effectiveness (which is a sum of reflection loss and absorption loss) has been determined from the material parameters of the barrier sheets. For the conductive fabrics, the dominant shield mechanism is predicted to be reflection loss, which shows an increasing function of electrical conductivity. Comparing these theoretical value with the directly measured surface impedances, the error range is found to be within 10 dB, which demonstrates that the proposed material-parameters method can be a convenient way to determine the electromagnetic shielding properties.