Transcript Evaluating the Internet

Laney College Library
Ann Buchalter, MLIS
Part 1: Help Google help you! Locating
Academically Acceptable websites.
Part 2: Apply evaluative criteria
(Website Evaluation Form) to website
you want to use as a source.

Limit search to specific domains:
.edu (educational)
.gov (government)
.org (non-profit organizations)

Limit search to specific file types:
filetype: pdf
filetype: doc

.com – commercial
(for profit) entities

.org – nonprofit
entities

.edu – educational
institutions

.gov – federal
government agencies

.mil – US military

.int – international
organizations

State or Country of origin
 .de - Germany
 .ca.us – California, US
 .ca - Canada
http://www.stanford.edu/~ccarson/articles/am_left.htm
 http:// is the protocol or access method
 www.stanford.edu is the domain or host name
 .edu is the top level domain
 ~ccarson/articles/am_left.htm is the directory
path folder on the domain computer
 Domain
 Appearance
 Sponsor
 Relevance
 Authority
Criteria #1
DOMAIN NAME
1.
Domain-some are more
“trustworthy” than
others…
2.
Web Site Title
3.
Access Date- this is the
date YOU found it
“On the Internet,
nobody knows
you’re a dog.”
good
not
APPEARANCE (part 1)
Criteria #2
1.
Is there a lot advertising on
the site?
2.
Does the site look
professionally done?
3.
Are there any noticeable
spelling or grammatical
errors?
APPEARANCE (part 2)
Criteria #2
1.
Check the links—working?
relevant to the page?
2.
Has web page has been
updated recently?
Criteria #3:
SPONSOR
1. Who is paying to put this site on
the internet?
2. About Us/Contact Us page?
3. If the web page is located on a
specific organization’s web site?
4. Is the site intended to be
entertaining, educational,
business related, or personal?
RELEVANCE
Criteria #4
1.
Does the information
contribute to your research in
a significant way?
2.
Is the material original
research? Opinion or
commentary on a topic?
3.
How does it compare to your
other sources?
AUTHORITY
Criteria #5
1.
Can you CLEARLY and QUICKLY
identify the author of the web
page/document you are using?
2.
Can you determine what the
author’s credentials are?
3.
Did the author provide a
bibliography?
Testing…
site #1
site #2
Random…