Evaluating Web Sources

West Fargo School District

Selecting and Evaluating Sources

Step 4Information Search Model

West Fargo Public Schools

Question

• How do I know if a site is a good site or not?

West Fargo Public Schools

Answer

•I have to learn to evaluate.

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

West Fargo Public Schools

Credibility

• 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”

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

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.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)

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)

West Fargo Public Schools

Do I Stop Now?

• Yes, if site is not credible

• No, if site is credible– If credible, continue with evaluation

West Fargo Public Schools

Accuracy• 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

West Fargo Public Schools

Reasonableness• 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?

West Fargo Public Schools

Support• Information in any other place?• Look at the domain

http://www.west-fargo.k12.nd.us.k12 school.edu college and university.com commercial.net internet resource.org nonprofit organization.gov government

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/

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

West Fargo Public Schools

C A R S• Credibility• Accuracy• Reasonableness• Support

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.

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/

West Fargo Public Schools

Where Are the Forms

• In the library

• In the labs

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

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.htm