Evaluating Websites

1
Evaluating Websites

• Literacy in the World of the Internet

2
Student Media Literacy

• Ability to find information
• Determine its usefulness and accuracy
• Utilize it effectively

3
Authority

• Is the author well-regarded?
• Does the site contain a biography or contact
  information?
• Is the site a link from a site you trust?
• Is there more information about the author
  available?

4
Bias

• Is there clear sponsorship?
• Is there a link to the sponsor?
• Is the page an ad disguised as information?

5
Citation

• Allows students to check the information
• Should be from respected sources
• Should include books or periodicals

6
Dates

• Date of creation
• Date of last update
• is the information is time sensitive?

7
Efficiency

• Does the site load quickly
• Try at all time of day
• Large graphics slow load
• Download to place in cache
• Use WebWhacker or some web browsers to save the
  site
• http//www.bluesquirrel.com/
• whacker/

8
Fallacy

• Check the authors purpose for writing the site
• Be sure to check information for context

9
Graphics

• Pictures must serve a purpose
• Topic must be enhanced by the graphic
• Remember bandwidth is used quickly by graphics
  and interest is lost on a slow download

10
Jerry-Built

• Poor constructed
• Many spelling and grammar errors
• Exception is foreign based sites

11
Knowledge

• Students should have prior knowledge
• Allows for evaluation of facts
• Creates an ability to discriminate

12
Misinformation

• There are few filters
• Watch
• Opinion verbs
• Emotion words
• Many sites are jokes or satyr
• Crystal Spirit Wolf Runner

13
Navigability

• Designed for ease of navigation
• Links should be grouped
• Keywords
• Search function
• Two click rule

14
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
15
Starting With The Right Attitude

• Be suspicious!
• Ask questions!
• What is the user searching for?
• What will the user use the information for?
• How much information does the user need?

16
The Author

• Is the author identified?
• What are the indications of the author's
  knowledge of the subject? Is the author qualified
  to publish on this subject?
• Does the author indicate his/her affilation?
• Can the reader contact the author directly?
• If the author is identified as an organization,
  are there links to its homepage or to pages
  containing information as to its purpose,
  philosophy?

17
Accuracy

• Does the information match or correlate with what
  the user already knows.
• Are there obvious errors of fact?
• Is there any indication that an outside or
  independent agency has reviewed or verified the
  material?

18
Content

• Objectivity, is the presentation one sided or is
  there is obvious bias.
• Typos, spelling errors, and bad grammar are all
  indicators of a lack of editorial review.
• Coverage may or may not matter depending upon the
  how narrow or broad the user's needs are.
• Is the information more readily available in
  another format? The information may be available
  on the web but it might be faster and easier to
  look in an encyclopedia.

19
Content

• What is the tone of the presentation? Does the
  author feel persecuted? Is s/he angry that no
  legitimate press or journal would publish the
  materials.
• Is the information unique?
• is this web page the only place the user is going
  to find this type of material.
• it is often a warning sign that no one else would
  publish it.
• The Spotted Hyena (Discussion)

20
Orientation

• Is there a link to a home page?
• How hard is it to locate the information
  required?
• Is there a link to the author's affiliated
  organization?
• Is the design usable by all likely users.
• If the material is part of an online journal, are
  there links providing information on how articles
  are selected?
• If the material is scholarly, can the user access
  references, table of contents, abstracts,
  footnotes, etc.?

21
Currency

• When was the page posted?
• When was it updated last?
• Does it matter when it was last updated? A
  collection of 19th century poetry may never be
  updated and the material is still useful.
  However, a page offering the latest findings in
  physics, biology, genetics, etc. may be outdated
  within days.
• Are there a lot of dead links? Dead links
  indicate the author has touched the page
  recently.

22
URL Clues

• .COM sites are usually commercial or business
  sites.
• They want to sell the reader a product or service
  
• may be expected to sing its praises without
  mentioning its faults
• some .COM sites are the hosts for personal pages
• www.geocities.yahoo.com
• www.fortunecity.com.
• .ORG sites usually exist to persuade the reader
  to a point of view.
• Their accuracy lies in the eyes of the beholder.
• National Rifle Association
• Handgun Control
• It can be very useful to look at .ORG sites from
  opposing camps.

23
URL Clues

• .GOV sites are generally reliable pages
• the party in power may choose
• statistics to published
• studies to funded
• .EDU are often and mistakenly assumed to have
  more reliable content.
• .EDU sites cover the whole range of purposes that
  are served by .COM, .ORG, and .GOV sites.
• They may try to sell themselves to prospective
  students
• Offer outlets to various organizations
• Serve as a host to personal websites
• Publish information as required by law.
• The principle of academic freedom for faculty
• Removes any or at least most scrutiny of their
  webpages

24
Apply the Five Ws

• Who wrote the page?
• What does the author say is the purpose?
• When was the site created, updated, last worked
  on?
• Where does the information come from?
• Why is the information useful?