How to evaluate sources on the World Wide Web Credible Sources

Why evaluate information found on the Web? There is a lot of information online, and since anyone can post, it is crucial to evaluate websites before the information is considered credible.

Criteria for evaluating a website Who Accuracy Objectivity Currency

Putting it all together 1. Who. Who wrote the pages and are they an expert? Is a biography of the author included? How can I find out more about the author? 2. Accuracy. Are the sources for factual information clearly listed so they can be verified in another source? Is the information free of grammatical, spelling, and other typographical errors?

Possible Problems with Web Page Authority  Difficult to determine authorship.  Author’s qualifications are frequently absent.  Contact information may not be listed.

Problem with Web Page Accuracy  Anyone can publish on the Web.  Many Web resources not verified by editors.  May includes lies, distortions, myths, dubious data and stereotypes.  May not provide links to reputable outside sources.

3. Objectivity. Does the content appear to contain any evidence of bias? Is there a link to a page describing the goals or purpose of the sponsoring organization or company? If there is any advertising on the page, is it clearly differentiated from the informational content? 4. Currency. Are there dates on the page to indicate when the page was written, when the page was first placed on the Web, or when the page was last revised?

Problems with Web Page Objectivity  May pretend to be objective, but only presents one point of view.  May not differentiate bias vs. fact.  May provide biased information in order to promote a product.

Problems with Web Page Currency  Site may not display dates.  Pages may present stale information.  Site may include dead links.

What does the site’s content appeal to… Ethos Pathos Logos

Ethos Ethos: Ethics To make the audience decide right or wrong about what is being presented to it Political issues, national beliefs, religious issues, etc… Typically has contrasting colors symbolizing the difference between good and evil.

Pathos Pathos: Emotion To make the audience feel something about what is presented to it Children, animals, illness, memories, etc… “Tugs at your heart strings”

Logos Logos: Logic To make the audience think about what is presented to it Statistics, facts, authorities, etc… Very straightforward, and not “fluff”. It has a very scientific, factual approach.

About Domain . com = commercial . org = organization . gov = government . edu = education/.k12 / ac / sch . net = network . mil = military institution . blogs = web blogs → many are.com

.com.com-commercial sites- Usually this means the site’s purpose is to generate revenue in some way. Determine how they are trying to do this.

.org. org-organization sites-published by nonprofit organizations- Read the information that describes who they are and why they are publishing this information. Find out if they are being sponsored by other reputable organizations.

.gov.gov -government sites- be sure that they have clearly identified who they are. “A.gov domain name carries with it a significant level of legitimacy, trust, and authority as an official government website that is certified, verified, and recognized by the United States Government”.

.edu.edu-educational sites- Be sure that they have clearly identified who they are. An educational – edu website can be written by any student with space on their college’s server. It does not mean the site is automatically reliable.

.net.net- network infrastructure- Read the information that describes who they are and why they are publishing this information.

Your turn… Go to Socrative.comSocrative.com Enter room # 19885