How to Evaluate Internet Resources Trash or Treasure? How to Evaluate Internet Resources

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

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

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

Five Criteria: Accuracy/Reliability Authority Objectivity Currency Organization

Accuracy/ Reliability How reliable is the information? Can you verify the information? Does it match reality? Are sources cited?

Accuracy/ Reliability Cont’d Why was the page put on the web? (Inform, Explain, Persuade, Sell, Entice, Share, Disclose, Other) Possibly ironic? Satire or parody?

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? You discover an author has a Ph.D. Do you need to investigate any further? What if her degree is in physics and the website she wrote is on Shakespeare? Is everything on Geocities bad? Would your teacher question you citing a source that resided on a free server? Who might have a site with a ~ at a university?

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 Clues often appear on the top or bottom of a page, or in menu bars and frames. These sections often contain authorship clues!

Truncate 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/BT200 3/BTstudents2003_files%5CPlague2003.ht m TO http://pathology.uth.tmc.edu/

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 These are not working URLS! Use them as examples for analysis only.

Authority Cont’d Look at the Domain Can you get in touch with them? .edu .com .gov .org .mil Can you get in touch with them?

Objectivity Is the information biased? Was information omitted? Is only one side of the issue presented?

Currency 1988 2005 Look for dates First written First published Last revised Is your topic time sensitive? Are the links up to date? Be suspicious of undated material. 2005

Organization Is it easy to use? Can you find information easily? Is it organized?

So, why should we care about all of this?

There are bigger questions in life There are bigger questions in life! You will be using information to make important decisions! 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!

Use Trusted Websites such as: BCPS Databases http://www.google.com/scholar When in doubt contact the Better Business Bureau. Don’t get scammed!! http://www.bbb.org/council/

Now that I’ve found a site… Look for the criteria to judge the website. Determine if the site is useful to you.