Transcript File - WOOD HILL DIGITAL LEARNING COMMONS

The ABC’s of Web
Page Evaluation
Trash or Treasure?
How to Evaluate
Internet Resources
It’s a fact…
When students want to find information
about a topic, they like to go to the
Internet first.
But how do students know that the
information they find is accurate?
How many times have you heard
someone make one of these statements:
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“Why should I bother to check out the
source?”
“But the Web page looks so official!”
“It’s okay to copy anything from the
Internet.”
“I read it on the Internet, so it must be
true.”
When researching, is it okay
to use a site that you find
on the Internet?
The answer is yes, but…
…you need to evaluate and examine
the value of what you are using as
your “expert” source.
You need to be like a detective and ask
yourself, “Is this a reliable site?”
Why do we need to evaluate
Web sites?
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There is an endless number
of resources floating
around the World Wide
Web.
The quality of Web
resources varies greatly.
ANYONE can publish on
the Web, and no approval is
necessary!
The information could be
inaccurate, incomplete, and
out-of-date.
EVALUATION IS IMPERATIVE!!
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Students must learn to be effective
CONSUMERS of information.
You must learn to REACT to Internet
information, not just RETRIEVE.
HELP!!! How do I know if a
Web site is reliable? What
criteria do I use?
A simple technique has been
developed to help you determine
whether or not you can count on
a Web site to give you accurate,
up-to-date, and un-biased
information.
All you need to know is
your ABC’S.
Here goes…
A – Author and Accuracy
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Is the author of the Web
site named?
Is the author qualified to
write about the subject?
Can you find information on
him/her?
Does the information make
sense with what we already
know? Is it factual/true ?
Can the information be
verified/checked in other
places?
Is the info free of
grammatical, spelling, and
other typographical errors?
B – Bias
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Does the Web page present the
information in a fair, balanced, and
objective manner?
Does the information represent a single
opinion or a range of opinions?
Is the site free of unnecessary
advertising?
Is the site trying to persuade
you to do or think something by
showing only one side of an issue?
C – Common Sense and
Coverage
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Is the information
believable, useful, and
valuable to know?
Are the topics covered
in depth with info that
can be verified with
links?
Is the content of the
page written at a level
that you can
understand?
Step Back and Think…
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Does it all add up?
Listen to your gut reaction!
Why was the page put on
the Web?
 To inform, give facts?
 To explain, persuade?
 To sell, entice?
 To share, help?
 To entertain, deceive?
D – Dates
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Does the Web page show the date when
the page was created?
Is the Web page updated regularly?
Are the statistics current?
Are the links up-to-date?
E – Editor
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Does the Web page name an editor, fact
checker, or Webmaster?
Does the Web page contain a bibliography?
Is there a way to contact the editor or
author if you have questions about the site?
Does the Web page have a reputable
sponsor, such as a university or a
government?
Does the domain name give you any clues?
DOMAIN NAMES: Anyone
can create a Web site…
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.com=commercial site
 www.espn.com
.org=organization, often nonprofit
 www.redcross.org
.mil=military group
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.net=network provider
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www.usmc.mil
- www.verizon.net
.info=information services
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- www.bcpl.info
DOMAIN NAMES:
Some Web sites are restricted
and, therefore, more reliable.
Not everyone can use an
 .edu=educational site
 www.ume.edu
or
 .gov=government agency
 www.whitehouse.gov
Remember this?
Check out some fake websites
http://city-mankato.us/
http://descy.50megs.com/descy/webcred/webcred/dhmo.html
http://descy.50megs.com/akcj3/bmd.html
http://www.nervousnellies.com
http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/
http://www.buydehydratedwater.com/
What can you tell from these Web addresses?
FYI: Beware the Tilde
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www.jhu.edu/~jsmith/sports.html
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~
~jsmith = a personal site; someone’s
opinion
Other personal-page hints:
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 AOL, Geocities, Tripod, and Angelfire
(hosted by free servers)
 Homepages often end in .html
…And a Word about
What is Wikipedia? Can I use it to research?
 Wikipedia is a general encyclopedia.
 It is a collaborative authoring website,
which means that ANYONE can create or
edit information on the site.
 Wikipedia may be a good place to start
your research to get some beginning info.
 Once you have some key ideas and terms
about your topic, then you can go to a
more reliable source and dig deeper.
Why shouldn’t I just google my
topic?
 Less than 10% of Google is
K-12 curriculum-related;
mostly focused on
consumer information.
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High % of info is not
updated regularly and may
be created by
questionable sources.
Most newspaper &
magazine/journal archives
are inaccessible due to
copyright.
 100% of what is located in
the library database is
curriculum-relevant for
students & teachers.
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Articles & websites are
reviewed and updated
regularly.
Access is provided to
1000’s of selected
newspapers, magazines,
maps, graphics, literature
reference sources.
So, ask yourself…
Is using the Internet always as
good a resource as I could find in
the stacks of the library or in an
online database?
The answer is…
…sometimes yes, sometimes no.
It’s just important to know the
difference.
But that’s a lesson
for another day…
haha
For now, when checking
Web sites for reliability –
determining
or
– remember…
A
is for…
Author and
Accuracy
B
is for…
Bias
C
is for…
Common Sense
and Coverage
D
is for…
Dates
E
is for…
Editor
The End?...
…or is it just the
beginning of more
accurate and efficient
research ;)
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“Why should I bother to check out the source?”
“But the Web page looks so official!”
“It’s okay to copy anything from the Internet.”
“I read it on the Internet so it must be true.”
The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus?
Really?