NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION Check the Source! - Web Evaluation

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION Why Source Criticism? Information is rarely neutral All information needs to be evaluated - printed as well as web pages The ability to critically evaluate information is essential in the information age

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION What is Source Criticism? To critically check and interpret a document, an image or a statement To find out if the source is accurate To find out what is true, or at least probable

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION Traditional Evaluation Criteria Accuracy - Is the source verified? Authorship - Who is the author? Objectivity - Is the information biased? Currency - Is the content up-to-date? Coverage - What topics are included?

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION Before you accept information Ask who posted/ published this information! Ask what is the purpose/ intent of this information!

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION Evalute Books and Articles Who is the author? Who is the editor? When was it edited? Is the content reliable? Is the content appropriate to and does it cover your topic?

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION Why is Web Evaluation so difficult? Anyone can publish on the net Mixture of advertising and information The hyperlink and frame-system can be confusing Web pages ‘disappear’

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION Evaluating Web Pages Start with the Internet address (URL) of the document The URL can say something about the publisher of the Web site

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION Return to the home page Search engines often retrieve pages out of context Try to return to the homepage to determine the source of the information

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION Understand and decode the URL transfer protocol server name.domain.se country code /skolnet/ directory /kolla/ subdirectory index.html filename.filetype

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION Internet Domains Domain is the institution, organisation or enterprise where you can find the computer hosting the actual website

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION Two types of Top Level Domains National - two-lettered country codes for example.se.ie Find more at: International - type of organisation for example.com.org.gov.edu.mil

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION Check Domain Name Websites to help you do this:

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION Check IP-addresses IP= Internet Protocol All internet computers have unique IP addresses Check them at

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION Who is the author? Who created the web site? Is the author well-known? If not, look for the author’s name in an encyclopedia! Is the author affiliated to an organisation? Is the author’s included? Don’t use anonymous material!

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION Recognise personal Websites The URL often includes a directory like /users/ or /people/ followed by a personal name The URL often has a tilde /~ for example /~john

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION What more can you find out? Is there an ‘about’ button? Is there a content list or an index? Is there a sitemap for better navigation? Is the purpose of the site clearly stated?

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION Check the content What is the purpose of the Web site? Is the purpose to inform, to persuade, to sell or to entertain? Are there editors and fact checkers? Is the content suited to and useful for your purpose? Is the text free from errors?

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION List of references or links Is a bibliography included? Is there any links to other resources about the topic? Are the links up-to-date?

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION Who has linked to the Website? Are there links to the author’s web page from another document that you trust? To find out, you can type: link: actual URL of web page in some search engines eg AltaVista Be careful, good web pages can link to bad ones! And vice versa!

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION Currency Is there a date included that tells you when the page was created? Is there a date of the last update?

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION Citing Internet Resources Author Title of page Date of posting/revision Date of access URL (Web address)

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION Don’t forget to compare with other sources to use many sources

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION Read more... Check the Source - the webpage