EVALUATION OF INTERNET RESOURCES FOR HISTORY Or Being a history detective on the web! By Michelle Ward Okanagan College Library web:

Contents  Introduction  Evaluation Criteria for Internet Resources Authority Currency Objectivity Accuracy Coverage Purpose Recognition  Hands-On Exercises  Conclusion  Further Resources

Introduction  Historians and Scholars Using the Internet pre-publication release online collaboration for peer review web repositories blogs and wikis personal websites  History resources on the Internet Primary sources and Secondary sources

Rationale An academic research resource next to an amateur project Scholarly articles next to conspiracy theories Up-to-date teaching web pages next to out-of-date course materials A university professor's website next to a school student's journal Your Google search results might list: Anyone can put material on the Internet - amateur or an expert From anywhere in the World - Toronto or Timbuktu They can say anything they like - true or false And leave it there as long as they like - even if it goes out of date Or change it without warning - even remove it completely Why does the quality of information vary so much?

Rationale authors of a book or article have checked & referenced their work, an editor double-checked it, a publisher decided it was good enough to publish, a reviewer commented on it (peer-review process) then a librarian & faculty thought it or the article database or e-journal or e- book collection containing it, was good enough to select for the library. How the Internet compares with a Library’s online resources ? It's up to you to judge what is trustworthy! A library’s resources have been checked at least three times by different people: With Internet resources

Evaluation Criteria for Internet Resources  Questions to think critically, sometimes suspiciously about these Internet resources  Techniques to quickly find out what you need to know about internet resources AuthorityWho & Where CurrencyWhen? Objectivity What? & How? Accuracy Coverage PurposeWhy &How? RecognitionWhat do others say?

AUTHORITY WHO? & WHERE? Is there an author identified? Is it somebody’s personal page? Who is the publisher or sponsor of the page? Can you verify the credentials or contact information of the author and sponsor? Which country is the information coming from? Questions to Ask

AUTHORITY WHO? & WHERE? URL Domain and Location.ac,.edu academic or educational servers.co,.com commercial servers.gov government servers.org non-governmental, non-profit making organisations Techniques UK government Author's name Organisation name ( a header or footer) About Us Background Contact Details (address / phone number / )

CURRENCYWHEN? When was the information originally produced? Is it still useful? Has the page been updated? Is it going to be updated? By whom? How current are the site’s links? Questions to Ask

CURRENCYWHEN? Techniques A last updated or last modified date at the foot of the home page Current links Factual information is dated A publication date

OBJECTIVITYWHAT? Does the author or publisher display bias or advocate one view point Is it a narrow range of information or a comprehensive resource? If there is a narrow focus, has relevant and sufficient evidence been presented or just a few anecdotes or emotional examples? If alternative views are addressed, how fairly does the author treat opposing views? Does the site use inflammatory or provocative language? Does any advertising influence the content? Questions to Ask

ACCURACYWHAT? Can factual information be verified using other sources? Does the work list links or references to print or library database sources, which will allow you to check the sources which the author has made use of? Does it link to external reputable sources? Are there any distortions, dubious data or stereotypes presented? Questions to Ask

ACCURACYWHAT? Techniques reputable sources comprehensive bibliography references to print sources

COVERAGEWHAT? What topics are covered in the work? What does this page offer that is not found elsewhere? How in-depth is the material? What time period is covered by the work? Is the page under construction? ( By the time it finishes, information may change) Questions to Ask

PURPOSEWHY? Who is the site’s intended audience? Why was the site created: advocate or argue a position? sell a product? inform readers? parody a person or organization? Questions to Ask

PURPOSEWHY? For the actual White House history visit

RECOGNITIONWHAT DO OTHERS SAY? What do others say about the author or responsible publisher/sponsoring body? Who links to the page? Are there many links? What do they say? Questions to Ask

RECOGNITIONWHAT DO OTHERS SAY? “Google” the author’s name Do a link: search in Google Use: enter the URL into the search box. Click on “overview” Techniques

HANDS-ON-EXERCISES Course: HIST125 Contemporary World from World War II to the Present Research Essay: Topic - #31 What were the ideas & methods of Martin Luther King Jr.? Requirements: The basic principle in writing analytical essays is to use good source material,that is scholarly source material… Use at least 3 books as well as articles, the Internet & primary sources Using the criteria discussed above, evaluate two internet sources on our essay topic? Refer to the exercises sheet for instructions

EXERCISE SUMMARY Looking at the above exercises, both websites are returned on the first page of a Google search Both use the same domain code i.e. “.org”. Both sources reflect the biases and motivations of their sponsoring organizations. Yet after applying the evaluation criteria, such as Authority, Currency, Accuracy & Objectivity, we can clearly identify the King Center website as the source with the most relevent, reliable and scholarly information for our research topic.

CONCLUSION & FURTHER RESOURCES In combination with using critically evaluated internet resources, remember to consult the Library’s web pages for books and journal articles for all your History research papers. Refer to session web page for: notes on this session, this power point presentation, and a list of further resources, links, and references. For further assistance, ask a librarian