Transcript How Do I Evaluate Electronic Information?

How Do I Evaluate
Electronic Information and
Why Should I?
Internet Skills
Living Online Lesson 5
Mrs. Elzey
Lesson Objectives
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Identify reasons for evaluating
Internet resources.
Identify parts of a Web page.
Identify criteria for evaluating
electronic information.
Identify Internet resources.
Cite Internet resources appropriately.
Why Evaluate Web Pages?
Be aware!!
Anyone can publish
information to the Internet,
therefore, it is not always
accurate or reliable
Viewing a Page
Questions to consider
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Did it take a long time to load?
Are the graphics on the page related to
the site?
Are the sections on the page labeled?
Who wrote the information on this
page?
How can you communicate with the
author?
When was the page last updated?
Are there appropriate links?
Is it easy to follow links?
A Web Document
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3 main elements:
– Header: contains links to the
sponsoring institution
– Footer: contains the author or
contact person, date of revision
– Body: contains information identifying
the intended audience, purpose of
the information
Criteria for Evaluating
Electronic Information
The 5 W’s
Who???”Authorship
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What expertise does the author have
that qualifies him or her to distribute
this information?
Look especially for a name or e-mail
address
Look at domain name to consider
appropriateness of the site
What???Content
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Is the purpose of the site stated?
Is the information accurate?
Is the information in-depth?
Does it cover a specific time period?
Are any conclusions offered?
When????Age
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When and how long has it posted?
How often is it updated?
Check links to other sites to determine if
they still exist
Check style of writing and the language
used
– Opinionated and subjective information may not
be worthy of your attention
– Objective writing is a better resource
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Overall layout
– Free of spelling errors
– Free of grammar errors
Where???
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Is the information authentic?
Is it unique or has it been copied?
Why???
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Why was the information provided by
the source published?
What are the perspectives, opinions,
assumptions, and biases?
Is anything being sold?
Who is the intended audience?
Citing Internet
Resources
Resources Used in Reports
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You must give proper credit to any
information you include in your report that
is not your original thought.
This is called “citing” a source
General guidelines can be found in the
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research
Papers or The Chicago Manual of Style.
Listed in alphabetical order by author’s last
name.
Copyright
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The exclusive right, granted by law for a
certain number of years, to make and
dispose of literary, musical, or artistic work.
You cannot use information on the Internet
as your own. You must give credit to the
person who created the work.
Public domain – information that can be
used without citation.
Fair use – refers to short, cited excerpts,
usually as an example
Other Legal and Ethical Issues
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False Information
– Anyone can publish
– Information not always true
– Can be sued for libel and forced to pay compensation for
damages
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Criminals
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Gather personal information
Acquire credit
Conduct transactions using false identities
Sexual predators
Threats
Circulating rumors to manipulate stock prices
Pranks, hoaxes, and unfair use of trial “shareware”
Need help?
Use this website to assist with
creating a bibliography from
on-line resources
for a research paper.
owl.english.purdue.edu/hando
uts/research/r_mla.html
Agenda Book Pages 99 –
101 for more examples