1. Research and the Internet
Rationale: Welcome to “Research and the Internet.” This presentation is designed to introduce your students to methods for effectively searching the World Wide Web and evaluating the content of web pages. The twenty-four slides presented here are designed to aid the facilitator in an interactive presentation of search and evaluation strategies. This presentation is ideal for the beginning of a research unit in a composition course or an Internet research assignment.
This presentation may be supplemented with OWL handouts, including “Searching the World Wide Web” ( “Conducting a Productive Web Search” ( and “Evaluating Sources of Information” (
Directions: Each slide is activated by a single mouse click, unless otherwise noted in bold at the bottom of each notes page.
Writer and Designer: Jennifer Liethen Kunka
Contributors: Muriel Harris, Karen Bishop, Bryan Kopp, Matthew Mooney, David Neyhart, and Andrew Kunka
Developed with resources courtesy of the Purdue University Writing Lab
Grant funding courtesy of the Multimedia Instructional Development Center at Purdue University
© Copyright Purdue University, 2000.
Coventry High School

2. Research and the Internet
The Internet can be a great tool for research, but finding quality web materials and using them to your advantage in your writing can be challenging.
Rationale: With the development of the Internet, students have found that conducting research is much easier and more convenient than searching through library stacks. While the Internet can be a great tool for research, locating quality materials can at times be a challenge. The following slides will offer tips on how to make the most of your Internet search.
Activity: To generate discussion, the facilitator may ask students about their level of familiarity with the Internet. Also, the facilitator may ask students about the types of web sites they visit, as well as if they have their own personal web pages.

3. Why do we need to evaluate web sources?
Virtually any person can publish almost anything on the Internet.
Unlike most print sources, web sources do not have to be professionally accepted and edited to be published.
Activity: The facilitator might ask students why it is important to evaluate web sources. The answers offered on this slide highlight the importance of web source evaluation. .
Key Concepts: Books and journal articles generally go through a long process of fact-checking, editing, and revising before being published. However, anyone with a computer and Internet access can post a web site. Just because the information is published online, it does not mean it is true or reliable. The facilitator may note that web sites change frequently and sometimes disappear quickly.
Thinking about evaluation within the search process can help to make web browsing efficient and effective.
Click the mouse after the title question.
Coventry High School

4. Researching the Internet
Use search engines to your advantage
Identify the web site
Examine for credibility
Determine depth and scope of information
Assess date of information
Rationale: This slide previews the five areas of web location and evaluation that this presentation will cover.

5. Types of web pages Informative pages Personal web pages
Political/interest group pages
Marketing-oriented or “infomercial” pages
Entertainment pages
Key Concepts: There are several different types of web pages on the Internet. Students researching the web tend to think that the majority of web pages are devoted to providing information. Generally, informative sites--pages that offer information for the public good without any type of overt political or sales agenda--are few and far between.
Personal web pages tend to be devoted to an individual’s interests, hobbies, family, friends, or ideological beliefs. While researching, students may find personal web pages being used as a sounding board for a political agenda. Though some sites contain well-researched and reliable information, others do not.
Political or interest group pages generally promote some type of cause or way of thinking. These sites will educate web surfers about their topics, but they may contain slanted or biased information. Their goal is to offer information in the hopes of changing a belief, gaining a vote, or earning a political contribution.
Students have the hardest time distinguishing between pages that provide information and pages that try to sell a product. For example, a web site that informs about the benefits of aromatherapy may also sell aromatherapy products. While some “infomercial” sites clearly are promoting a product, the business agenda of other sites can be more difficult to assess.
Finally, the Internet contains many entertainment-oriented web sites. These sites can range from movie news and games to cartoons and comic book sites. Still other pages are “joke” pages--pages that look like they contain serious information, but really contain elaborately fabricated content. If readers are not careful researchers, they may mistake these “joke” pages for reliable information.
Click the mouse for each type of web site.
Coventry High School

6. What is a search engine?
A search engine is an Internet tool that locates web pages and sorts them according to specified keywords.
Key Concepts: This slide defines a search engine--a tool that can search through web pages and sort them according to specified keywords. Search engines are essential for researching the Internet: they have the ability to locate and sort through millions of web pages.
Activity: The facilitator may choose to generate discussion by asking students to explain what a search engine is.
Click after globe appears for the answer to the title question.

7. Types of search engines
Yahoo and Alta Vista are the most useful search engines for beginning searches.
Google, Northern Light, and Snap access the greatest percentage of the World Wide Web--only around 15-16%.
Dogpile will search through several search engines at once.
A collection of search engine links is available at the OWL web site: owl.english.purdue.edu
Activity: The facilitator may ask students about they types of search engines they use. They will list many for you--Yahoo, Alta Vista, Excite, Lycos, Hotbot, Infoseek, Northern Light, Snap, Dogpile, etc.
Key Concepts: Each search engine searches the web in a slightly different way. Also, companies or individuals often must register their web sites with these different search engines, so the list that comes up on Yahoo may be completely different from the one that comes up on Lycos. A wide variety of search engines may be accessed at the OWL web site, located at owl.english.purdue.edu.
When researching a topic, it is also a good idea to do some brainstorming about the best places on the web to locate information. Government agencies and non-profit groups may host web sites that offer useful information.
Activity: The facilitator may choose either now or after the presentation to minimize the PowerPoint presentation, access Netscape or another Internet browser, or go the the collection of search engines on the OWL web site.

8. Use search engines to your advantage
Search engines can help you to identify sources that will provide serious information, products or services, or entertainment.
Key Concepts: When conducting an academic search, it can be difficult to determine which sites are providing serious information, and which sites are selling a product or entertaining an audience. Some search engines, like Yahoo, will sort search information into categories, separating business and entertainment sites from other types of information. It is then up to the researcher to determine which categories to examine.
Coventry High School

9. Use search engines to your advantage
Pick the right search engine for your research needs.
Yahoo and AltaVista will help you to distinguish between different categories of web sites.
Hotbot, however, locates information based upon the popularity of the site.
Refine your search whenever possible.
Key Concepts: Some search engines work better for specific types of searches. While Yahoo will take your keyword and sort information into categories, a search engine like Hotbot will bring up the ten “hottest” (or most popular) sites for your keyword. While Hotbot might be useful for assessing the popularity of web sites in a cultural analysis paper, Yahoo might offer a more comprehensive listing of sites.
Coventry High School

10. Limit your keyword search
Cancer
It is a good idea to read the directions for each search engine to get the most out of your search.
Use words like AND and OR to limit your search and get more specified information.
Lawsuit
Tobacco
Legislation
Smoking
Key concepts: This slide offers tips for using search engines. Since search engines do not all work in exactly the same way, it is a good idea to read the directions of your selected search engine prior to conducting a search. Also, using Boolean operators--words like “AND” and “OR”--can help to tailor a search to your needs. It is also a good idea to brainstorm a list of keywords that might fit your topic. The slide offers an example for a search on the tobacco lawsuits and settlements. Depending on the angle of your topic, you might choose a variety of these terms in combination with each other.
And
Advertising
Teenagers

11. Identify the web site
Assess the authorship, content, and purpose of the web site.
This is important because
many web sources are not checked for accuracy.
some personal sites are used to express individual opinions about issues, but not necessarily the facts.
Key Concepts: After using search engines to locate some potentially helpful web sites, your next step is to identify the site. This involves determining the authorship, content, and purpose of the web site.
Coventry High School

12. Identify the web site
Sometimes the actual purpose of the web site may not be clearly articulated.
Can be difficult to separate advertising from accurate information.
Some marketing sites will offer misleading information in attempts to sell their products.
Rationale: This slide details some of the problems in identifying web sites. In particular, students often have difficulty separating advertising from information.
Coventry High School

13. Identify the web site Whenever possible, try to locate the home page.
You can often do this by eliminating some information from the end of the URL.
.org .gov
.com .net
.edu .us
.au .uk
Key Concepts: A good way to determine the authorship of a web site is to try to locate the home page. This can be done by deleting some of the information from the right side of the web address. If you used a search engine and linked to a page with a very long web address with lots of slashes, try deleting information to the right of the slashes until you get to a smaller base address.
Activity: Some information in the web address itself can clue you in to the type of web page you are viewing. The facilitator may choose to ask students what the five examples at the bottom of the slide indicate. A non-profit organization is indicated by .org. Government branches are indicated by .gov. Business sites are usually indicated by .com or .net. Educational institutions are indicated by .edu, but any student using a university web server will also have an .edu address. Official United States’ sites are indicated by .us. Sites published in the British Isles are designated .uk, while .au indicates Australian sites.
Coventry High School

14. Identify the web site
Is the site affiliated with a business or university?
Does the site offer idiosyncratic information about a particular person or group?
Who is the creator of the site?
What is the purpose of the site?
Who is the audience of this site?
Can you purchase products at this site?
Key Concepts: The best way to evaluate a web site is to ask yourself a list of questions. The questions presented on this slide can help a researcher determine the reliability of the information, as well as the purposes for the web site.
A web site that contains a great deal of idiosyncratic information is probably a personal page devoted to a particular group of people, club, or city.
Activity: The facilitator may ask students about the question in the upper right of the slide: “Is the site affiliated with a business or university?” Ask students if a web site affiliated with a university is more or less reliable than other types of web sites. Often web sites sponsored by a university or a particular department of a university offer some of the most current and well-researched information on the Internet. However, at a school such as Purdue, every student can publish his or her own personal web page. Web surfers need to determine if the information provided is scholarly and well-researched, or if it is published by a student clowning around and posting joke pages on the Internet.
Coventry High School

15. Examine for credibility
Credibility may be compromised by purposeful misinformation or by unintentional neglect.
Locating the name of the site’s creator may be challenging.
Credentials may be missing even if the author’s name is provided.
Key Concepts: After you identify the type of web site you are viewing, you must next assess it for credibility. Information in the web site depends in large part upon the author; unfortunately, the author’s name may not be clearly listed on the web site. If the author’s name is listed, credentials may not be provided. Furthermore, because web sites do not need to be fact checked to be published, we cannot necessarily rely upon the publisher to be honest.
Coventry High School

16. Examine for credibility
Who is the author of the site?
What is the authority or expertise of the individual or group?
What else comes up when you type the author’s name into a search engine?
Does the source have a political or business agenda?
Is the site sponsored by a political or business group? If so, what can you find out about that group?
Key Concepts: Again, asking yourself a list of questions is the best way to determine the credibility of the web site. Is the author listed? Credentials? If you can find the author’s name, try typing it into a search engine to see what else pops up. Is the author affiliated with a political group or a business? If so, try typing the name of the group into a search engine to see what else pops up.
Coventry High School

17. Examine for credibility
Does the site provide a list of sources or a Works Cited page?
Can you locate any of the source material? How reliable is this material?
Are there links to other credible sites with additional information?
Does the site provide a link for ing the author or webmaster?
Key Concepts: This slide provides additional questions to test the credibility of a web page. A list of sources indicates the inclusion of source material in the web content, but it is a good idea to check out some of the sources as well. Sources listed on the Works Cited page may also prove useful to the researcher. Does the web site link to other related sites? If the linked sites are not very reliable, you may question the credibility level of the author’s own site--such links show poor judgment. Also, can the author or webmaster be contacted? If so, they may be willing to answer questions about their web site or even consent to an interview!
Coventry High School

18. Determine depth and scope of information
Does the material show signs of research, such as references to other sources, hyperlinks, footnotes, or a reference page?
Does the author consider opposing points of view?
How closely does the site really match the information for which you are searching?
Corroborate information whenever possible!
Key Concepts: This slide again offers a list of questions that students should ask when they review web sites for their depth and scope of information. Also, students need to allow themselves enough time to research their work. Encourage them not to just use information from the first five web sites they locate--they should find the five best web sites on their topics.
Activity: The facilitator may ask students why the consideration of opposing points of view is important in a well-researched web site. The presence of opposing viewpoints suggest that the author has carefully considered multiple viewpoints about an issue and has come to an educated conclusion about the issue.
Coventry High School

19. Determine depth and scope of information
Are there a lot of flashy pictures, colors, animated images, and logos designed to attract attention? Do these eye-catching images distract you from noticing a lack of credible information? Do they disguise an attempt to get you to buy something?
Key Concepts: This slide highlights the visual impact of a web site, demonstrating how easy it is to become distracted from the content by the visual appeal. All of the fireworks graphics on this page will flash briefly and disappear.
Coventry High School

20. Determine depth and scope of information
Different from print sources:
Information covered on web pages is often presented for easy digestion and visual appeal.
Information may not provide sufficient depth or scope.
Material may be affected by marketing or political bias.
Sometimes web sources may not be the right sources for the information you need.
Key Concepts: Web researchers need to determine the depth and scope of information provided on web pages. Remember, looking at the Internet on a computer monitor is very similar in some ways to watching a giant television: web pages are generally designed to be visual appealing for quick and easy digestion by the viewer. Consequently, information may not be presented as thoroughly as it might be in a book or journal article. Also, the material included on web pages may be dramatically altered to fit the marketing or political agendas of the publishers.
Finally, the facilitator may want to stress that web sources are not always the best sources of information. Students sometimes tend to have an overreliance on the Internet, thinking that all information is out there somewhere in cyberspace. The best research students can do is to combine web sources with other print sources, including books, magazines, and academic journals, as well as interviews and questionnaires.
Coventry High School

21. Assess date of information
Can you locate a date on the web page?
Dates on web pages can mean:
Date the author first wrote or developed the material
Date site was first available on the Internet for public access
Date site was most recently updated, including revisions, additions, or subtractions to the material
Key Concepts: Though information on web sites may be credible, it may not be current. The date of the material may be completely omitted from the web site. To be sure you are covering all of the recent changes in the field or topic you are studying, be sure to assess the currency of your information. This is not always an easy task.
Coventry High School

22. Assess date of information
Does the site clearly state a date of creation or a date for the most recent update?
More importantly, does the information cover recent changes or advances in the field or topic you are researching?
Key Concepts: Some sites will state at the bottom of the home page statements such as “Date of Creation: 6/1/99” or “Updated 7/7/99.” If dates are clearly stated in this way, you should be able to rely upon them.
However, rely upon your context clues. Does the information provided cover recent changes or advances in your topic? If not, the information is probably outdated.
Example: For example, if your topic is cloning and you located a web site that discusses cloning as if it had not taken place yet, you would know that the information was published before Dolly, Gene, and other famous cloning experiments were successfully completed.
Coventry High School

23. Evaluating web sources
Use search engines to your advantage
Identify the web site
Examine for credibility
Determine depth and scope of information
Assess date of information
Rationale: This slide reemphasizes the main points of the presentation. This is a good time for the facilitator to field any questions about the presentation content.
Activity: Click on the OWL hyperlink and visit the collection of search engines on the lower left section of the page.
Ask students to imagine that they will write a paper about US tobacco lawsuits. Have them go to Hotbot and type in the keyword “tobacco.” Hotbot will provide the ten “hottest” sites with that keyword; the majority of them will be tobacco shops, companies selling methods to stop smoking, and smoking afficianado pages. You may find one or two sites related to the lawsuits. Then have your students try the same search in Yahoo. They will find information categorized into sections relating to business, hobbies, health, and news. Note that Yahoo can help to identify the types of web sites you visit, saving time and energy in the search process. You might then choose to have students come up with pairs of keywords to enter into the site, such as “tobacco and legislation” or “smoking and lawsuits.” This will refine the search even further.
Visit the Mankato (Minnesota) web pages and ask your students to assess their reliability. The official web page is located at < Another page is located at < This page is posted by Mankato State University, and it is designed as both a joke and an exercise in assessing the reliability of web pages. Have students follow the links on the site, notice the pictures, and the many awards and press listings noted at the bottom of the home page. Then have students read the “Disclaimer” flashing at the top of the screen (be sure to jump to Part Four). The letter from Maureen Gustafson is also a treat. Just because a page LOOKS like it might be reliable doesn’t mean it is.
Visit a search engine of your choice and ask your students to provide some search terms for some sample class searches and web page evaluations.
Coventry High School