1 / 20

Critical Evaluation of a Web Page:

Critical Evaluation of a Web Page:. Surfing Is Not Searching. Mrs. Stern School Library Media Specialist 2010. Why Evaluate Information?. Most students rely on Web resources for research. Not all Web resources are created equal. The rule of thumb is “ When in doubt, doubt. ”

tariana
Download Presentation

Critical Evaluation of a Web Page:

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Critical Evaluation of a Web Page: Surfing Is Not Searching. Mrs. Stern School Library Media Specialist 2010

  2. Why Evaluate Information? • Most students rely on Web resources for research. • Not all Web resources are created equal. • The rule of thumb is “When in doubt, doubt.” • When you carefully select your sources, you create better products.

  3. FREE VS. FEE-BASED SOURCES • Free web sites are open to anybody with an Internet connection. • All the search engines (Google, Ask.com, etc) are free web searches. • Anybody can post information on the free web; websites found through search engines are usually not reliable.

  4. FEE WEB SOURCES (DATABASES) • A file of magazines and books stored on computers. The information on a database has been verified. Many even provide links to reliable websites. • Our school subscribes to many databases. • See database brochure on next screen.

  5. WHAT’S WRONG WITH WIKIPEDIA? • Wikipedia is among the top ten most-visited sites on the Internet. • It has been criticized for being riddled with inaccuracies. • One of its prominent and long-standing contributors had lied about his identity.

  6. THE CASE OF SINBAD VS. WIKIPEDIA • In March of 2007, Wikipedia listed the actor who starred in the Television series “A Different World” and the movie Jingle All the Way as dying on the morning of March 14th as a result of a heart attack. • WWW.WIKIPEDIA.COM

  7. Evaluating Websites “Let the buyer beware” • Book publishers weed out inaccurate information. • No one checks the Internet for accuracy.

  8. Top Level Domainswww.starwars.comThe alphabetic-based, unique name for a computer on a network. Top level indicates the type of organization. • .edu—higher education • .k-12—elementary and secondary schools • .com—commercial • .gov—government agency • .org—general noncommercial organization • Even if you retrieve information from a .org, .edu or .gov site, there is no guarantee that it’s correct, up-to-date or unbiased. • College students often post to .edu websites. • Can search for a particular domain name. For example, site:.gov internet evaluation

  9. Five W’s Of Web Site Evaluation: Who? • Who wrote the pages and are they an expert? • Is a biography of the author included? • How can you find out more about the author? • Did the author give you his/her e-mail address?

  10. WHAT? • What does the author say is the purpose of the site? • What else might the author have in mind for the site? • What makes the site easy to use?

  11. WHEN? • When was the site created? • When was the site last updated? • Is up-to-date information needed for your project?

  12. WHERE? • Where does the information come from? • Where can I look to find out more about the producer/sponsor? • See if any sites are linked to it. For example: link:www.shakespeareismyhomeboy.com • Where else may I find more useful information?

  13. WHY? • Why is this information useful for my purpose? • Why should I use this information? • Is this information better than an encyclopedia? • Why is this page better than another?

  14. WEBSITE EVALUATION • We will evaluate the following web site: Shakespeare is my homeboy Shakespeare – Criticism of Individual Plays • Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators

  15. So, why should we care about all of this?

  16. Importance of Evaluation in Life • In life, you will be using information to make important decisions. • Which car should I buy? • Which college should I attend? • Should I trust medical info from the Internet? • You want to be able to ensure the information you choose is reliable, current and relevant.

  17. Importance of Evaluation in School • Your teacher will evaluate your work based on the quality of the sources you select. • Evaluate carefully. Don’t settle for good enough! • QUALITY ALWAYS COUNTS!

  18. RECOMMENDATIONS • Use the fee-based Internet (databases) rather than the free sites. • If using a free site, check the website for reliability using the checklist provided in class. • Even “scholarly” sources aren’t infallible. Look at all information sources with a critical eye.

More Related