FIT
100
Assignment
2: Evaluating Web Sites
(or, Now that you’ve found it, how good is it?)
"You may have heard that
'knowledge is power,' or that information, the raw material of knowledge, is
power. But the truth is that only some information is power: reliable
information"
~Robert Harris~
Evaluating the Quality of Information on the
Internet: A Checklist
http://www.virtualchase.com/quality/checklist_print.html
Many of you have done a fair
amount of browsing and searching on the Internet. Have you ever stopped to question the content
of sites you encounter when you are looking for cold, hard facts?
Anyone can publish on the
Internet and most of that content is not verified for accuracy, unlike many
print journals and other publications.
The job of fact verification is left up to you, the user. Expert searching of the Internet for
information is a valuable skill, but knowing how to evaluate what you find is
something of an art. The same skills
that go into evaluating print materials can be applied to evaluating web
content. Honing those skills until they
become second nature will make the task of wading through the glut of information
out there a little easier.
·
In a search engine, use basic search strategies to
bring back sites with information on a topic.
·
Use evaluation techniques to determine authenticity
and credibility of web sites.
Web search tips from Search
Engine Watch:
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/facts/index.html
List of Search Engines by
function:
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/links/
When looking at information
provided on the Internet, keep in mind the following criteria (you do NOT have
to answer the questions listed in each criteria in writing for the sites
evaluated):
o
Is the information reliable? Free from errors?
o
Are the sources of information listed? Can you verify them?
o
Is the author an expert in the field?
o
Is the publisher of the site reputable? What does the domain of the document tell
you? (Is it an educational institution, .edu, or a government site, .gov, etc.)
o
Can you tell the difference between an educational
site, and a site that is simple hosted by an education domain?
o
Do you find any biases on the site?
o
What is the motivation for the site? To inform? To persuade? To explain?
o
Is the intended audience of the site indicated?
o
How updated in the content? Is the date of last update easily found?
o
Does the site contain original information, or just
a bunch of links?
o
What topics are covered
o
Is the topic covered in depth?
o
Is the site consistently available?
o
How many links are dead ends?
o
Does it cost money to use the site?
o
Do you have to register to use the site?
What happens when you encounter an “official” looking site? At first glance it appears authoritative and reliable. Deciding whether the information presented is accurate and objective, current and authoritative is a skill to be developed.
Web site evaluation is a contextual process. How you evaluate a site is usually dependent on your research task or information need. Are you looking for new ideas and opinions, facts on a subject, or evidence that supports your position on a topic? Answers to every question in the criteria listed above will not be found for every site. The art of web site evaluation is to obtain answers to enough of your questions that IN YOUR JUDGEMENT the site has substance, merit, reliability, authenticity, etc. for your purposes-or it doesn’t. In many cases it is your own knowledge or familiarity with some of the facts that may tip you off to inconsistencies in the web site content.
Take a look at each site
below. Select one group only to complete
the assignment
Group 1:
·
http://www.democrats.org/news/bushlite/index.html
Group 2:
·
http://www.melatonin.com/prod/melatonin/melfaq.htm
·
http://www.herbalists.on.ca/forum/melatonin.html
Group 3:
·
http://www.beefnutrition.org/
http://www.shepherds-rod-message.org/health/awake.html
·
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/the_economy/newsid_334000/334874.stm
Group 4:
1.
Fill out the table criteria for EACH site in the
group you choose. Note each web page’s
reliability/credibility/objectivity, etc in your chosen group. Mark each column with a number between 1 and
10.
1= Little or no accuracy, authority, etc. and 10 =
very accurate, authoritative, etc.
Site Name/URL
Accuracy Authority Objectivity Currency
Coverage/Scope Accessibility
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2.
For
each site in your chosen group, give a brief summary (1 paragraph) of the
content. [If you are hand-writing your
answers, use an extra sheet if you run out of room]
3.
For each site in your group, indicate if you would
you use it as an objective source of information on the topic it
describes? Why or why not?
4.
Why do you trust [or not trust] the information from
each site?
5.
How credible do you consider each one? Why? [Think about the class lecture on
different kinds of credibility]
6.
What is the viewpoint of each site that you should
consider as you read?
7.
Who
owns the domain of each site? List the
organization and primary contact. Use
your search skills to find a WhoIs server that will
identify the owners of each website.
Internic and Network Solutions are 2 large sellers of
domain names. They each provide
searchable databases of current domains and their owners.
8.
Use the search skills gained in Assignment 1 to do a
search on a topic of interest (in other words, a topic in which you have some
previous knowledge). Evaluate 3 sites
found on the topic and reflect on how you evaluate them and what criteria
influence your decision about the validity of the site. Mark the reliability of the site for the
various criteria below.
Site Name/URL Accuracy Authority Objectivity Currency Coverage/Scope Accessibility
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9.
As you evaluate the sites on your topic, answer this
question: What aspects of each website
make it appear “authoritative” or credible?
10.
Keep in mind the criteria you read at the beginning
of this assignment.
A. Did the sites on
your topic answer most of the questions? Which questions were NOT answered?
B. What criteria
were best utilized on each site to make it seem more credible and believable,
even if you, as a knowledgeable searcher on the topic, knew different?
Project 1 will require you
to create a site that provides “misinformation” for the novice user. Will your site pass all, or most, of the
above criteria?
Examples of sites that might be information, misinformation, spoof sites, parody sites
or hoaxes. What do you think?
Antiretroviral
Drug Interactions in the HIV-Infected Patient
HIV & AIDS: Rethinking AIDS Website
The True But
Little Known Facts About Women and AIDS
The Greening
of the Anti-Immigrant Agenda
Operation
Gatekeeper: New Resources, Enhanced Results
Illegal Immigration Is a Crime
Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie
Real Aroma
Feline Reactions
to Bearded Men
http://www.improb.com/airchives/classical/cat/cat.html
GenoChoice
Dyhodrogen Monoxide
The Onion: News Parody
http://www.lme.mankato.msus.edu/mankato/mankato.html