1 Evaluating Online Sources A Module of the CYC Course – Computer Basics

9 Dont believe everything you hear (or read) Although it can be a useful research tool, the Internet is full of rumors and misinformation. How can you be sure that what you see is legitimate? –Dont take anything at face value –Make sure you are getting information from credible sources

9 Urban legends Whats your favorite?

2 Find out the real story Go to Snopes is a website that researches rumors/stories/urban legends and reports whether or not they are true. Search the rumor or urban legend youre interested in Click on the Hot 25 –These are the 25 most widely circulated stories right now

2 Why Snopes? You will get rumors and urban legends. Snopes lets you find out whether they are true. Search google for the same story. –What are the differences in the results?

2 Credibility of Websites How can you check the credibility of websites you arent familiar with? –Evaluate information from more than one source. –Evaluate each site according to the steps on your hand out, Five Criteria for Evaluating Web pages.Five Criteria for Evaluating Web pages

2 Content Sources Go to –Which is content from About? Which is content from users? –Which is content from advertisers?

2 Parked Pages Visit Can you find any credible content? This is called a parked page.

2 Organic Search Results Go to Google and search for House Cat Care. The results in the main white space are Organic results. –These results come up because the content on the site has the closest match to the search terms.

2 Paid Search Results The top result, in a different color, and the results on the right side bar are Paid results –These are Sponsored Links also known as pay-per-click ads - the advertiser pays google every time someone clicks on one. –They come up because these companies have purchased advertising on google based on keywords. Which results are more credible?

14 Sources This curriculum references a hand out entitled Five criteria for evaluating Web Pages that is used with permission under an American Library Association non- commercial sharing copyright.American Library Association non- commercial sharing copyright Content created by Connect Your Community, a project of OneCommunity, funded by the federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program.OneCommunityBroadband Technology Opportunities Program

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