Authenticating Content 1.02 Understand how to validate, authenticate, and legally use information from the Internet.

Slide 2 Content Criteria  When validating information obtained from the Internet, we need to look at two major areas: the URL and the content.  Since we already know about the URL, what do you think we need to know about the content?

1.02 Understand how to validate, authenticate, and legally use information from the Internet.Slide 3 What does validate mean?  In layman’s terms: To validate means to verify or prove that something is what it says it is or that something does what it says it’s supposed to do.  For example, the statement, “The sun rises in the East and sets in the West,” is valid because it has proven to be scientifically true.

Scenario – Mad Scientist?  A page has supposedly been created by Dr. Alex Moe, a medical research scientist, to provide information about cell structures and DNA codes in a virus.  The page is colorful and well laid out.  The words are big and sound important.  The graphic images look real.  So how do you know if the content is valid?  We will use this scenario throughout the next slides to describe how a web page is validated (or not) Understand how to validate, authenticate, and legally use information from the Internet.Slide 4

1.02 Understand how to validate, authenticate, and legally use information from the Internet.Slide 5 1. Who created the page?  Try to find information that confirms the author is who he/she claims to be. Can you find links about Dr. Moe? What do the links say? Has he published other articles of medical research? What organization/research facility does he use to conduct his research?  Search for information about the author on This site provides the registration information of the domain name owner.

1.02 Understand how to validate, authenticate, and legally use information from the Internet.Slide 6 2. When was the page created?  Try to find information on the creation date of the page. Search for information about the author on This site provides the registration information.  Determine when the site was last updated.

1.02 Understand how to validate, authenticate, and legally use information from the Internet.Slide 7 3. Copyright Information  Is the page copyrighted?  Look for the copyright symbol on the webpage ©

1.02 Understand how to validate, authenticate, and legally use information from the Internet.Slide 8 4. Relevancy... That is the Question  Does the information relate to or match the content The page title should match the content  Do the images relate to the content and the title The images, content, and page title should match the content presented

1.02 Understand how to validate, authenticate, and legally use information from the Internet.Slide 9 5. Are there obvious spelling and grammar errors? Do you think Dr. Moe would have spelling and grammatical errors on his page? A page that is supposedly created by a medical research scientist would assume very limited if any errors. Errors should send up an immediate red flag to check further into the validity of the page.

1.02 Understand how to validate, authenticate, and legally use information from the Internet.Slide Consistency... Consistency of information  Are the images consistent with the content  Are the color schemes constant  Are the font schemes constant

1.02 Understand how to validate, authenticate, and legally use information from the Internet.Slide 11  What does authentic mean?  Not counterfeit or copied  Genuine, real, original, true  Are these pictures authentic? mals mals  What do other sites and links say about Dr. Moe’s information (the cells)?  What research does Dr. Moe include on his page to prove that what he says is true? 7. Is it authentic?

 Is the usefulness/purpose of the site clearly presented  Is the URL consistent with the web page content  Is it useful for its intended purpose 1.02 Understand how to validate, authenticate, and legally use information from the Internet.Slide Is this useful?

1.02 Understand how to validate, authenticate, and legally use information from the Internet.Slide 13 Truth or Fiction? Just for fun, visit these sites about fictional topics:  o.html o.html  

1.02 Understand how to validate, authenticate, and legally use information from the Internet.Slide 14 What’s next? We will validate some websites!