1. Evaluating Web Sources West Fargo School District

2. Selecting and Evaluating Sources Step 4 Information Search Model

3. West Fargo Public Schools Question How do I know if a site is a good site or not?

4. West Fargo Public Schools Answer I have to learn to evaluate.

5. West Fargo Public Schools C A R S Credibility Accuracy Reasonableness Support Harris, Robert. “Evaluating Internet Research Sources.” 17 November 1997. Online. Internet. 28 November 2001. Available WWW:http://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm

6. West Fargo Public Schools C redibility Who is responsible? –Often difficult to determine –Any qualifications? –Usually found at beginning or end of site –Look for name of author & contact information Look at “About us” or “Contact us”

7. West Fargo Public Schools Look for Author’s Credentials Look all over –Top, bottom, side bars, etc. –Look for a link for an “About us,” a “Biography” section, a “Philosophy” http://www.kathyschrock.com/ If nothing is listed, truncate the URL

8. West Fargo Public Schools Truncating the URL Delete end characters of URL stopping at the first slash (/) –Leave the slash (/) Example: –http://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htmhttp://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm Check for credentials at each level Continue with one slash (/) at a time until you get to the domain name (if you need to)

9. West Fargo Public Schools What organization is represented? Have you heard of this organization? http://147.129.1.10/library/research/AIDSFACTS.htm –Check for a disclaimer How do we verify credibility ? –E-mail Address-- not enough! –Need Postal address or –Telephone number Check the home page (truncate the URL)

10. West Fargo Public Schools Do I Stop Now? Yes, if site is not credible No, if site is credible –If credible, continue with evaluation

11. West Fargo Public Schools A ccuracy Date? –Warning: Undated factual or statistical information is no better than anonymous information. Don’t use it. Revision date? Errors? –Spelling –Grammar 3 or more errors indicate a poor site

12. West Fargo Public Schools R easonableness Emotionalism Purpose of the site –Inform, explain, persuade, promote, sell, share, facts, disclose, rant, entice, etc. Bias –Is there bias in the site? Good or bad to use? Advertising –Do ads coincide with document? –Is the advertiser a sponsor of the site?

13. West Fargo Public Schools Support Information in any other place? Look at the domain http://www.west-fargo.k12.nd.us.k12school.educollege and university.comcommercial.netinternet resource.orgnonprofit organization.govgovernment

14. West Fargo Public Schools Support Who has linked to the site? –Use a search engine such as Google or AltaVista to see who has linked to the page –In the search box precede the URL with link: (no spaces) and press Enter Ex: http://www.google.com/

15. West Fargo Public Schools Decision time!! Do you or do you not use the site? NO, if you cannot verify the authors or sponsoring organization Then you need to carefully decide considering all of the criteria C A R S

16. West Fargo Public Schools C A R S Credibility Accuracy Reasonableness Support

17. West Fargo Public Schools That is Power!! Few sources meet every criteria in the list, but if you use the list, you will be a better user of information.

18. West Fargo Public Schools When to Use the Evaluation Sheets When evaluating pages on the Internet Let’s take a look at the Library Web Resources http://www.west-fargo.k12.nd.us/schools/middle/library/

19. West Fargo Public Schools Where Are the Forms In the library In the labs

20. West Fargo Public Schools Practice Assignment 1.Everyone logon 2.Click Library Web Resources 3.Click Search Model 4.Scroll down to Step 4 5.Choose 1 of the assignments

21. West Fargo Public Schools Works Cited Harris, Robert. “Evaluating Internet Research Sources.” 17 November 2001. Online. Internet. 07 June 1999. Available WWW: http://www. Virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm Alexander, Jan and Tate, Marsha. “Checklist for an Advocacy Web Page.” 5 August 1996. Online. Internet. 23 April 1998. Available WWW: http://www. science. widener. edu/~withers/ advoc.htm. Schrock, Kathy. “Critical Evaluation of a Web Site.” 1996. Online. Internet. 27 November 2001. Available WWW: http://www.kathyschrock.com/abceval/index.htmhttp://www.kathyschrock.com/abceval/index.htm