Evaluating Websites November 2008

Don’t view the Internet as: a one stop information and research center the only place to look for information a place to copy and paste information for reports and projects

Before You Begin Use a variety of resources for your assignments Always ask your teacher which Internet sources you can use

Always try researching your topic on: Britannica on-line From home--user name – lawrence password – student

Tennessee Electronic Library May be accessed from our school website Choose the “icon” that best fits your purpose or Enter your first and last name. Capitalize the first letter in each name and space between your names

Why Evaluate? More information daily Can’t believe everything you find on the Internet Anyone can be an “author”, if he/she has the knowledge of how to build a site

Why Evaluate? Wide Variety of Content May be factual : encyclopedia, reference materials newspapers, magazines May be recreational : games, music, pictures, jokes May be opinion: letters, editorial comments

5 Criteria to Evaluate Internet Sites Accuracy Authority Objectivity Timeliness Coverage

Accuracy Does the author cite the sources of information he/she used to develop the site? Is it possible to verify the legitimacy of these sources? Is the site free of grammatical errors?

Authority Is the author identified by name? Is the place the author works or the organization he/she belongs to given? Is the site’s domain.edu,.net,.org, or.gov?

Site Domains.edu – education, college or university.org – organization, often non- profit.gov - federal government.com - commercial businesses

Objectivity –Is the site fact or opinion? –Is it clear for whom the site was created? –Is the site free of advertising? –If there are ads is it easy to distinguish between ads and content?

TIMELINESS Is the date the article, page or site was created given? Is the last date the site was revised posted? Do all links lead to active pages?

Coverage Does the site provide enough material to help with your research? Do the titles and headings give a clear idea of content? Is there a site map? Is there a tool for searching the site?

“No Guarantee of Validity” Written collaboratively by volunteers People of all ages and backgrounds can write Wikipedia articles. Every day hundreds of thousands of visitors make tens of thousands of edits. Content may have been changed or vandalized by someone with a conflicting opinion.

Award Winning Site Content – aligned with curriculum standards Recommended by teachers and industry leaders Fast and easy access to high quality information

Provides access to: 3 encyclopedias- Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus Magazine Articles Atlases

Five W’s of Web Site Evaluation 1.Who is the source of the information? 2. 3.Where did the information originate? Is the information complete and consistent? 4.What are you getting? Why was the site created? 5.When was the site created? 6.How are the topics covered on the site? Authority Accuracy Objectivity Timeliness Coverage