Whenever you seek information from the internet, you need to determine whether or not the information is accurate. There are several things to look for which can help you make a decision about the accuracy of the web site's information. The following site has a lot of good information to help you figure out how to evaluate a web site, including an information literacy quiz:
Information Literacy Resources
You will be assigned to work with a group, and given a set of web sites below
to evaluate. Look at each of the web sites in your set by clicking on them.
For EACH web site in the group assigned to you, use the criteria listed below
to determine accuracy.
Fill out this Internet
Evaluation form for EACH site in your group, and be prepared to tell the
class the positives and negatives about each site.
AIDS: |
Holocaust: |
Sponges: |
Periodic Table: |
Martin Luther King, Jr.: |
Smoking and Tobacco: |
Presidential Biography: |
Child Labor: |
DHMO: |
Explorers: |
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Authority--this is the person, organization, or company
responsible for the CONTENT of the page; the person or people who actually
wrote the information.
Do not confuse this with the webmaster, who is the person responsible for
the design of the page. Try to answer the following questions about the author:
Who is the author or the person responsible for the page?
Is the author an expert in this field? What evidence can you find for this?
Is there a way to contact the author?
Is the author affiliated with an organization and is there a link to that
organization's page?
Does the domain name or URL reveal any useful information about this site?
Is the information copyrighted?
Purpose:
What is the purpose of the page?
To teach? To sell? To persuade? To entertain? To complete a class assignment?
Accuracy:
Where does the information come from? Is there bibliographic or works cited
information?
Does the language or tone seem biased?
Are there grammatical, spelling, or typographical errors that could indicate
inaccuracies in information?
Does the information conflict with things that you have learned in school?
Currency:
When was the site last updated?
Are there a lot of dead links?
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Sources:
Checklist for an Informational Web Page Copyright Jan Alexander
& Marsha Ann Tate 1996-1998, Wolfgram Memorial Library, Widener University,
Chester, PA.
http://www.widener.edu/Tools_Resources/Libraries/Wolfgram_Memorial_Library/Evaluate_Web_Pages/659/
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: or, Why It's a Good Idea to
Evaluate Web Sources by Susan E. Beck, Head, Humanities & Social Sciences
Services Department, New Mexico State University Library
http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/evalcrit.html
Evaluating Internet Resources: Annette Lamb, The Teacher Tap
http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic32.htm
Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply and Questions to Ask:
U.C. Berkeley Library
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html
The A B C Ds of Evaluating Internet Resources: Binghamton University
Libraries
http://library.lib.binghamton.edu/search/evaluation.html
Generic Top-Level Domains: Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
Bogus Web Sites: http://andoverhs.anoka.k12.mn.us/imc/bogus.html