C REDIBLE W EBSITES Library Skills 2011

DATABASES VS. WEBSITES Experts are the writersAnyone can be the writer Aimed at students and researchers Aimed at the general public Structure is consistentStructure varies Paid with passwordsFree on the web Searched internallySearched with search engines Quality information because it is checked for accuracy Get information more quickly but quality may be inferior Articles tend to be more detailed Length, amount of detail will vary

DATABASES VS. WEBSITES The best tool to use for research depends on your topic. It is often helpful to use both databases and websites to find a wide variety of information. However, when using websites, the student/researcher must be carefully to check that the website is credible.credible

WHICH ONE IS CREDIBLE? 20 th Century History World War I Document Archive Why? What characteristics are missing from the less credible website? Write 3-4 characteristics on the back of your Website Evaluation Notes.

W HAT FEATURES SHOULD I LOOK FOR ? author sources URL/domain name look and feel type of site age purpose bias

UNDERSTANDING THE FEATURES OF A CREDIBLE WEBSITE 4 minutes: Work with a partner and discuss each of the 8 factors (30 seconds per factor). Why and how are these important? Click through the PPT for assistance if needed. Take notes as you discuss the factors with your partner. Be prepared to discuss your results with the class.

A UTHOR Biographies of Military and Political Leaders of World War I BBC—History: World War I Why should a credible website have an author? Can the author be an institution, organization, or company? What should one do once the author’s/organization’s name is located? What should you do if no author/organization can be found?

S OURCES Woodrow Wilson Woodrow Wilson: Nobel Prize What are sources and why are they important? What should one look for when analyzing the sources used to create a website? Wikipedia is not a credible source but it does have one benefit. It will list sources that can lead to further information. As always, you should evaluate these sources carefully to determine if they are credible. Woodrow Wilson--Wikipedia

What are some common URL (uniform resource locator) extensions? What can these extensions tell the researcher? Are certain extensions naturally more reliable than others? URL/D OMAIN NAME.com.org.net.edu.gov.biz

L OOK AND F EEL World War I—Spartacus Educational League of Nations Photo Archive Why are look and feel important? What can they immediately tell the researcher?

T YPE OF S ITE What types of websites exist? Which would contain the most reliable information for research? Why? Informational sites Government sites Educational sites Wikis Blogs Social networking sites Discussion boards/forums Gaming sites and more…

P URPOSE What are some purposes that websites have? How can one determine the purpose of a site? Why would this information be useful to the researcher?

A GE World War I: Fordham University History of War Online Where should the researcher look to determine the age of a site? Is it important for all links to be current as well? Why is correct grammar and spelling important? What should be done if the information on a site is not current? Are there exceptions to this rule? When?

B IAS What is bias?bias Where is bias present? How can the researcher determine if a website has biased information? Should biased information ever be used in scholarly research? Look at the advertisements Check the credentials of the author/organization Look for blatant lies and misrepresentation of facts

WORKS CITED Your works cited page should be in correct MLA format. When using the databases (Gale, TAL, World Book, Britannica, use the citation tools to find the correct citations). See the MTSU Writing Lab for more information about how to create your works cited page.MTSU Writing Lab

WORKS CITED: WEB SITES Author’s name. Name of Web site. Name of institution or organization associated with the site. Date of posting/revision. Publication medium. Date of access. Irvine, Martin, and Deborah Everhart. The Labyrinth: Resources for Medieval Studies. Georgetown University Web. 21 June 2004.

WORKS CITED: ARTICLE ON A WEB SITE Author’s name. “Title of Article.” Name of Web site. Name of institution or organization associated with the site. Date of posting/revision. Publication Medium. Date of access. Stanley, Sally. “Sabotaging a Child’s Education: How Parents Undermine Teachers.” Teacher- Parent Connections. Disney Learning Web. 22 Apr

WORKS CITED: ONLINE ARTICLE WITH NO OBVIOUS AUTHOR “Title of Article.” Name of Web site. Name of institution or publication. Date of posting/revision. Publication medium. Date of access. “ Reebok International Ltd.” Hoover’s Online. Hoover’s Inc Web. 19 June 2002.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST… Remember that it is illegal to steal someone else’s work. That means you cannot copy word for word from a website and paste it into your brochure!!!! Also, you cannot use copyrighted images without permission. This is also illegal. Please use TEL, Britannica or Worldbook online to find images. Tips to help: Select the most relevant info from several webpages and summarize it in your own words. Don’t copy a passage and use a thesaurus to change a word here and there (it’s still illegal ). Don’t copy and paste directly from the page into your project. Give credit to your source by using MLA or writing down the website URL and author/creator of the information

W HAT DO YOU KNOW ? Follow the link to complete a short survey on what you learned from this lesson on credible websites.

T OOLS TO HELP YOU This is a great website evaluation wizard…it takes you right through the process: Evaluation checklist worksheet