1. Diane Harz Media Center Toms River High School East

2.  WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO EVALUATE WEBSITES?  WHAT CRITERIA CAN BE USED TO EVALUATE WEBSITES?

3. MYTH: IF IT’S ON THE INTERNET, IT MUST BE TRUE. FACT: ANYONE CAN PUBLISH ANYTHING ON THE WEB. MYTH: WEBSITES PROVIDE OBJECTIVE INFORMATION. FACT: THE WEBSITE MIGHT BE AN ADVERTISEMENT OR OPINION.

4. IN YOUR THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE, JUST THINK - A SODA  AUTHOR  SUPPORT  OBJECTIVITY  DATE  ACCURACY

5.  WHO WROTE THE INFORMATION ON THE WEBSITE?  WHAT ARE THE AUTHOR’S CREDENTIALS?  DOES THE AUTHOR PROVIDE AN EMAIL, PHONE NUMBER, OR MAILING ADDRESS?

6.  DOES THE PAGE CITE CREDIBLE SOURCES?  CAN THE SOURCE BE TRIANGULATED (HAVE 2 OTHER SOURCES THAT SUPPORT IT)?  DOES THE PAGE HAVE A MIX OF INTERNAL & EXTERNAL LINKS?

7.  IS THE PURPOSE OF THE SITE TO INFORM, TO ENTERTAIN, OR TO PERSUADE?  DOES THE SITE PRESENT SEVERAL VIEWPOINTS?  IS THERE ADVERTISING ON THE SITE AND, IF SO, IS IT A CONFLICT OF INTEREST?

8.  DOES THE SITE HAVE A DATE OF CREATION?  WHEN WAS THE SITE LAST UPDATED?  HOW CURRENT ARE THE LINKS?  IS THE INFORMATION CURRENT ENOUGH FOR YOUR NEEDS?

9.  DOES THE SITE CONTAIN ANY MISSPELLINGS OR GRAMMATICAL ERRORS?  DOES THE SITE CONTAIN ANY INFORMATION THAT CONTRADICTS INFORMATION YOU FOUND SOMEWHERE ELSE?

10.  WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO EVALUATE WEBSITES? THE INFORMATION FOUND ON WEBSITES DOESN’T PASS THROUGH THE HANDS OF EDITORS OR FACT-CHECKERS.  WHAT CRITERIA CAN BE USED TO EVALUATE WEBSITES? IN YOUR THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE, THINK - A SODA  Author  Support  Objectivity  Date  Accuracy

11.  Schrock, Kathy. “Kathy Schrock’s ABC’s of Web Site Evaluation.” Web. 17 Feb. 2010..  Olin and Uris Libraries. “Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Pages.” 1998. Web. 08 Mar. 2010..  Beck, Susan. “The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: or, Why It’s a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Sources.” 1997. Web. 08 Mar. 2010..  “Web Research Guide: Criteria for Evaluating Web Sites.” Web. 08 Mar. 2010..  Harris, Robert. “Evaluating Internet Research Sources.” Virtual Salt. 15 June 2008. Web. 10 Mar. 2010..  Duke University Libraries. “Evaluating Web Pages.” 25 September 2007. Web. 10 Mar. 2010. <http://library.duke.edu/services/instruction/libraryguide/ evalwebpages.html>.