Transcript Should I Believe It?

Should I Believe It?
A Practical Guide to
Evaluating the
Quality of Internet
Websites
RAH 10/08
The Internet has put a world of
information at your fingertips!
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But can you “trust”
the information you
find on the Internet?
How do you know if
a website is reliable?
How can you tell a
good website from a
bad one?
When browsing through Internet Websites,
you need to be suspicious!
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Virtually anyone can
post a website on the
Internet.
Anyone can claim to
be an expert.
Some people will
dishonestly try to
cheat or misinform
you.
And just because you found it on Google or Yahoo,
don’t jump to any conclusions!
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These Search Engines are
“For Profit”
organizations.
Companies pay big $ to
have their websites
placed in prime positions.
No Search Engine can
guarantee the quality of
its “Finds.”
But what about Wikipedia?
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Wikipedia is an “open source”
encyclopedia.
It does contain a lot of current
information – but much of the
information has not been
documented or verified as
correct!
Almost anyone can edit or add
information to an article.
These “editors” may or may
not be trustworthy.
But It’s Not as Difficult as You
Might Think!
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In this presentation, you are going to learn
the steps necessary to help you better
evaluate the quality of information you find
on the Web.
What’s in an Address?
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One of the first things you should look at
when evaluating a website is the website’s
address – better known as its URL.
One of the first things to examine is the
Domain type of the Website.
Common Domain Codes
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Government sites use codes such as .gov,
.mil, or .us
Educational sites include .edu
Nonprofit sites include .org
*These three types of sites are usually
considered reliable sources of information!
.com or .net websites
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These websites can be created by almost anyone,
so it’s time to dig a bit deeper!
URLs that contain personal names, %, or ~ are
usually personal pages, and may be very
unreliable.
URLs that contain terms like “aol.com” or
“geocities.com” are also personal pages, so
proceed with caution.
Other URL Types
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Look for the name that located between http:// and the
first / in the web address line.
Have you ever heard of that name?
Is it a company or organization you have heard of or
trust?
Is it a name that seems to fit the topic and website title?
*This would indicate that the website is reliable.
Now Take a Closer Look
at the Page Itself.
Who created the Web Page or claims
responsibility for its content?
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a person?
an organization?
a publisher?
*Is it a person or group you can trust?
*Are these people “experts” in their field?
Is the Information on
the page current?
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When was the page
last updated?
Is the information or
statistics old or out of
date?
*Out-of-date info is
sometimes worse than
nothing at all!
Other Indicators
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Are links provided to
other reliable sources
of information?
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Are footnotes or
documentation
provided to back up
their facts and
figures?
Finally, do all the pieces
seem to “add up”?
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Do all the facts seem to
fit?
Are you sure someone
isn’t trying to cheat you
or sell you something
dishonestly?
Was this site created by
an “angry” person or hate
group?
Are you sure this website
isn’t a parody or a joke?
By following these simple steps…
…you’ll be well on your
way towards making
your own decisions
about what are
“good” or “bad”
sources of
information.
*But if you are not sure,
don’t hesitate to ask
your teacher or
another trusted adult
for a second opinion!
Now it’s your turn to be the judge!
You are now going to
investigate 8 Internet
Websites and …
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Record your observations
about each site.
Decide whether this is a
good or bad source of
information.
*If you do not have a
worksheet provided by your
teacher, you can print one out
by opening the link below and
selecting print from the file
options
EVALUATION
WORKSHEET
Investigate Each of the Following Links
Now using what you’ve learned, click on each of the following links to investigate these
websites. Answer the questions on your worksheet. Then make your decision if this
is a RELABLE or UNRELIABE source of information.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
http://www.buydehydratedwater.com/
http://www.fema.gov/
http://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html
http://www.mcwhortle.com/index.htm
http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/
http://www.google.com/virgle/index.html
http://www.cnn.com
http://www.defenselink.mil/
What did you find?
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You should have determined that 4 of these websites were
reliable sources of information.
And 4 of these websites were very unreliable sources of
information!
This time it should have been easy. But next time it will
be harder.
Remember to investigate each website with a critical eye.
Just because it looks is no guarantee that it’s reliable.
Works Cited
Baker, Joe (2006 December 12). Evaluating web pages: techniques to apply &
questions to ask. Retrieved March 02, 2007, from UC Berkley Library Web
site: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html.
Kral, Steve (2007).The necessity of website evaluation. School Library Media
Activities Monthly. XXIII, 12 - 15.
*Artwork courtesy of Microsoft ClipArt.