1. We’re Not In Kansas Anymore!

2. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO EVALUATE WEB PAGES? Because.... Your house has landed in Oz without a map. Unlike the Land O’ Books - The web has no editors and fact checkers. That is our job. Even scarier - it's now your job too. Because there are lots of web writers who are out to fool you!

3. Examples....

4. The Less than Good The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus: http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/ Who is the author of this site? What organization is in charge?

5. The Bad So outrageous, they are funny….but they can still catch you! ·The Republic of Molossia ·http://www.molossia.org/countryeng.htmlhttp://www.molossia.org/countryeng.html ·Dog Island ·http://www.thedogisland.com/http://www.thedogisland.com/

6. The Downright Dangerous All about explorers http://allaboutexplorers.com/ http://allaboutexplorers.com/ Martin Luther King, Jr. - A True Historical Examination http://www.martinlutherking.org / http://www.martinlutherking.org / Dihydrogen Monoxide – DHMO Homepage http://www.dhmo.org/

7. WHAT ABOUT WIKIPEDIA?

8. Is there a problem with Wikipedia?  To paraphrase Groucho Marx: "I would not want to use an encyclopedia that would accept me as a contributor."  Inaccuracies – sometimes blatant & purposeful.  Vandalism by “contributors”.

9. Should we use it?  It is often the only encyclopedia with any information at all about a very current event.  It provides links to other, more reliable or more detailed sources.  BUT please use it with caution!

10. How do I use it? I think it is OK to use Wikipedia as a PLACE TO BEGIN! Look at the number of sources at the bottom of the Wikipedia page. If there are a lot, the Wikipedia page is probably reliable. You should also look at some of the sources the Wikipedia article uses!

11. In university, professors will laugh at a paper that cites Wikipedia. Picture used with permission from BingeGamer.net http://www.bingegamer.net/

12. Hey there! Have you evaluated? Is that site good enough to cite?

13. Remember: Anyone can publish anything on the Web! It is your job, as a researcher, to look for quality!

14. Hmmm. This one looks good. How can I tell for sure?

15. Question Authority!!

16. C REDIBILITY / AUTHORITY Who is the author? Why is he or she an expert? (experience? Education?) Is this a personal page? (Clues: ~ tilde, %, users, members) Is it part of a major institution? Is the page hosted by a free server like AOL Members, Tripod, Geocities?

17. Look for credibility clues! Words and phrases to look for: About us, Who Am I, FAQs, For More, Company Information, Profiles, Our Staff, Home Search for the author in a search engine or online database Ask your teacher-librarian for help

18. Truncate (Shorten) the URL Delete characters in the address line up to the next slash mark to see if a main page offers more information about who is responsible for publishing the page you are interested in. Go from: http://pathology.uth.tmc.edu/courses/BT2003/BTstudents 2003_files%5CPlague2003.htm http://pathology.uth.tmc.edu/courses/BT2003/BTstudents 2003_files%5CPlague2003.htm TO http://pathology.uth.tmc.edu/

19. What can you learn from a URL? You can use the end, or suffix of a domain name to help you judge the validity of the information and the potential bias of a website. This strategy is not always accurate.

20. URLs as clues to content.com=commercial sites (vary in their credibility).gov=U.S. government site.ca = Canadian site.org=organization, often non-profit. Some have strong bias and agendas.edu=school or university site (is it K–12? By a student? By a scholar?).store=retail business.int=international institution.ac=educational institution (like.edu).mil=U.S. military site.net=networked service provider, Internet administrative site.museum=museum.name=individual Internet user.biz=a business.pro=professional’s site ~=personal site

21. What do their URLs reveal about these sites? http://personal.statecollege.edu/~ejv114/ http://www.fi.edu/wright/index.html http://www.house.gov/house/Legproc.html http://aolmembers.com/joyciev328/civalwarsong

22. R ELIABILITY Does the source present a particular view or bias? Sometimes a bias is useful for persuasive essays or debates. Recognizing bias is important.

23. R ELEVANCE Does this information directly support my hypothesis/thesis or help to answer my question? Does the source give you enough information?

24. D ATE When was this information created? Revised? (Be suspicious of undated material.)

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

26. There are bigger questions in life! You will be using information to make important decisions later on in life! Which car should I buy? Which doctor should I choose? Should my child have this surgery? Should I take this medication? You want to be able to ensure the information you choose is reliable, credible, current, balanced, relevant, and accurate!

27. Where else can I go for information outside of the web? You can come to the library for lots of accurate and well- documented books on the subject! I am constantly adding new books into our collection about topics that are relevant, interesting, and reliable!

28. Evaluation is important! Learn to be fussy! Learn to be fussy