1. Evaluating Web Resources How to judge the authority and accuracy of information found on the web.

2. Deluge of Web-Based Information Pros Information is easily available to be downloaded and manipulated. Distance is no longer a factor in the exchange of this information. More articles and data are becoming available electronically, specifically library resources. Cons Not all information has been reviewed or filtered. Flood of information can be overwhelming. It is more difficult to choose the valid sources. We do not rely on our print resources, libraries or librarians for information retrieval.

3. Criteria for judging a site PurposeAuthorityScope AccuracyPresentation

4. Authority- who created this site? Affiliation - university, industry, association, none Contact Information – email address Reputation Biographical Information/Credentials

5. Determining the Source educational institution -.edu a non-profit organization -.org a company -.com the government -.gov the military -.mil foreign -.ca,.uk,.de

6. Smart Searching Advanced Search on Google will allow you to limit the domain name of the results of your search. www.google.com click on advanced search, then limit by domain www.google.com For example: “only” from.edu or “don’t use”.com

7. Purpose Inform Entertain Advertise Provide Current Awareness Persuade

8. Scope Is material current? Is their any kind of bias to the reporting of this information? Is their a geographical limitation to the information? Is the information historical?

9. Accuracy Is there a bibliography or list of references on the site? Has the information been altered from its original? Does the author use objective reasoning? Have you noticed any errors? Can the information be confirmed? Are the links to internal pages or pages within this site?

10. Examples of Inaccuracy Were there Dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark? http://pblcoc.org/Resources/Apologetics /dinoark.htm http://pblcoc.org/Resources/Apologetics /dinoark.htm VirusMyth AIDS Homepage http://www.virusmyth.net/aids/index.htm http://www.virusmyth.net/aids/index.htm Martin Luther King http://www.martinlutherking.org http://www.martinlutherking.org

11. Presentation Is the site easy to navigate? How is information organized? Are graphics used? Are they necessary? How long does it take to load the page?

12. Overall Evaluation Ask yourself if this site is appropriate for your research.

13. Sources Evaluating Internet Resources: A checklist http://www.infopeople.org/howto/bkmk/select. html http://www.infopeople.org/howto/bkmk/select. html Five Criteria for Evaluating Webpages http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/research /webcrit.html http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/research /webcrit.html UMNGL Web Searching Guide http://www.unm.edu/~edserv/web- evaluation.html http://www.unm.edu/~edserv/web- evaluation.html