A Guide to Thinking About What You See on the Web

1. A Guide to Thinking About What You See on the Web Is the Web a good research tool?

2. Survey - • Take a few minutes to answer the survey questions at the following web site. • http://lg014.k12.sd.us/computers/web_sites.htm click on Evaluating Web Sites Survey • http://lg014.k12.sd.us/Evaluating%20Web%20Sites%20Survey.doc • When you are finished with the survey, please print your answers and turn it in.

3. Form A • Please take a few minutes to answer questions from the following web site. • http://lg014.k12.sd.us/computers/web_sites.htm click on Web Evaluation Form A • http://lg014.k12.sd.us/Web%20Evaluation%20form%20A.doc • Please print after you answered the questions and turn it in.

4. Evaluating Web Sites • Using the Web takes more than just knowing how to google. • When examining Web pages use the Five W’s of Web Site Evaluation : • Who • What • Where • When • Why

5. Who • Try to find out who wrote or created the Web pages -- not just their names, but something that indicates they are a "good source." • Sometimes pages will provide an about the author link, but usually you will have to dig around. • You can try googling an author,but you can also check the URL itself for important clues.

6. Who continued • Truncating the URL by deleting the all the characters after each slash (/) until you get to the first one is a good way to find out what person, organization, or institution is responsible for the site. The URL http://www.ithaca.edu/library/training/think3.html reveals that this page is connected to the Library at Ithaca College. • You would think that an author wouldn’t be writing unless he or she was an expert on the topic, but that is not always true.

7. Domain Names • Check the top level domain of the site's URL. • Here are some of the most common domains: • .edu educational site (universities and colleges) • .com commercial business site and personal sites • .gov U.S. non-military governmental site • .mil U.S. military site • .net networks and internet service providers • .org U.S. non-profit organizations • You can generally expect the information on .gov and .mil sites to be accurate. • The information on .edu sites is generally accurate. However, they range from research forums to joke collections. • if an .edu site also has a tilde symbol (~) in the address, it is a personal page and needs further evaluation. • Whether a .com is a personal web page or a commercial site, it warrants a different kind of scrutiny than a .gov page.

8. What • Try to identify the reason the Web page was created in the first place. Determine if the main purpose is to inform, to persuade, or to sell you something. Advertising and opinion can both be disguised. If you know the motive behind the page's creation, you can better judge its content. • Another important question to ask is--What is not being said? • Since money talks, try to notice who is paying for the site, either through advertising or sponsorship. Both can affect content. Whether bias is intentional or not, it is a factor.

9. When • Is the page dated? Is it current enough? Especially with time-sensitive or evolving topics. • Undated factual or statistical information is no better than anonymous information. • How recent the date needs to be depends on your needs. • For some topics you want current information. • For others, you want information put on the web closer to the time it became known. • In some cases, the importance of the date is to tell you whether the page author is still maintaining an interest in the page, or if it has been abandoned.

10. Where • Almost anyone can put almost anything on the Web for almost any purpose. Look for vagueness, scheming, and bias. • Accuracy is not easy to confirm. Information on a site cannot be evaluated unless you compare it to other sources. As with any research, you must test one source against another. • Unfortunately, sometimes facts can be misleading. Look at five or six different Web sites and you might get five or six different answers.

11. Where • Internal clues can tell you much about a Web page. • Check for the obvious things, such as good grammar and correct spelling. Is the language simple or technical and demanding? Look for documentation of the facts being presented. Look for the date the page was last revised.

12. Why • Make sure you are in the right place. • Ask yourself why you are using the Web. Don't use the Web because it is fun and easy; use it when it is the appropriate source for the information you are seeking. • An hour on the Web may not answer a question that you could find within two minutes of picking up a reference book.

13. Questions to ask yourself • Who is responsible for the site? Do the authors have any authority or expertise? Do they provide you a way to contact them? Is this a commercial, governmental, personal, or academic Web site? • What is the purpose of the site? Is the main purpose to inform, to persuade, or to sell you something? Do you understand what is being said? Are the facts documented? What do you think has not been said that should be addressed? • When was the site created? Is it updated? Do the links work? Is the site well organized? Are there misspelled words or poor grammar? Do they send you beyond the site to other reliable sources of information? Are the graphics on the page clear and helpful or distracting and confusing? • Where -Do you have good reason to believe that the information on the site is accurate? Do authors provide any supportive evidence for their conclusions? • Why - Does this site address the topic you are researching? Was the page worth visiting? Does the site offer anything unique or does it tell you little more than you could find in an encyclopedia?

14. Remember the Basics

15. So, Is the Web a good research tool? • The answer is yes, but only if you are careful • Every time you find a new piece of information, try to answer all the questions so that you can make up your own mind whether it is quality information or not. • And finally, never follow advice from the Internet unless you are sure it is correct.

16. Quiz • On your own go to the following web site and complete the Quick Quiz. • http://www.quick.org.uk/quiz.htm

17. Your Assignment – plan a vacation to Mankato MN • With a partner, view the following web site: http://city-mankato.us/ • After looking at all the links and information on the site, please answer the questions at the following web site: • http://www.2learn.ca/evaluating/div3netscheck2.html • When you have answered all of the questions, click on the “show me my net check page” at the bottom of the web site. • Print out your answers and turn them in.

18. Your assignment --Jo cool or Jo fool • Go to the following web site: • http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/games/jocool_jofool/kids.cfm • On the right hand side of the page, click on “Cyber Tour” • Then choose all 12 sites. • Read each web page then choose your answer.

19. Form B • Please take a few minutes to answer questions from the following web site. • http://lg014.k12.sd.us/computers/web_sites.htm click on Evaluation Form B • http://lg014.k12.sd.us/Web%20Evaluation%20form%20B.doc • Please print after you answered the questions and turn it in.

20. Sources • http://www.ithaca.edu/library/training/think.html • http://www.quick.org.uk/ • http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/evalcrit.html • http://netsmartz.org • http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/games/jocool_jofool/kids.cfm