FIT
100
Assignment
2: Evaluating Web Sites
(or,
Now that you’ve found it, how good is it?)
Winter
2002
"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~
1) Evaluating Internet
Resources: A checklist
http://www.infopeople.org/bkmk/select.html
2) The Virtual Chase: Legal Research on the Internet 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.
·
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:
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
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?
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 the following groups of sites.
Using the criteria listed above, rank their reliability on a scale of
one to ten (ten being most reliable).
Would you use these sites as
objective sources of information on the topics?
How much do you trust the
information from each site? Do you find
each one to be credible in one way or another?
Is there a particular viewpoint the content is deriving from that should
be considered as you view the site?
Group 1:
Group 2:
Group 3:
·
http://oncolink.upenn.edu/cancer_news/1994/smoke_media.html
·
http://www.smokingsection.com/issues1.html#smoke
Group 4:
·
http://www.ushmm.org/kristallnacht/frame.htm
·
http://ihr.org/jhr/v15/v15n2p10_Okeefe.html
Use this table to note the
web page’s reliability/credibility/objectivity, etc. 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.
Use the 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 the sites found on the topic and
reflect on how you evaluate them and what criteria influence your decision
about the validity of the site. Go
through the questions listed above in number 1 and add your own questions as
you form a judgment. 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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3.
As
you evaluate the sites you find, keep this question in mind: At first glance, what aspects of a website
make it appear “authoritative”?
Keep in mind the criteria
you have read in the paragraphs above.
Did all the sites answer all of the questions? Did they answer enough to appear authoritative even though you,
as a knowledgeable searcher, knew different?
Project 1 will require you
to create a site that provides “misinformation” for the novice user. Will your site pass all of the above
criteria?
Examples of sites that could be seen as spoofs,
or as misinformation:
Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie
Real Aroma
Feline Reactions
to Bearded Men
http://www.improb.com/airchives/classical/cat/cat.html
GenoChoice
Dyhodrogen
Monoxide
Mankato,
Minnesota Tourist site
http://www.lme.mankato.msus.edu/mankato/mankato.html