1. Evaluating Websites Do you trust everyone to tell you the truth? Osama bin Laden, Terrorist 1957-2011 Was one of FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives Reward: $52 million

2. Who puts stuff on the Web? Do you believe everything you see & hear? I do!

3. WHOOOO? Selects Edits Approves Reviews Monitors Content on the Internet?

4. Be suspicious of free info! Ask: Who? What? When? Where? Why? The 5 W’s

5. Who? Who? Who is the author? Authority?

6. Who? Authority Author/ group/ organization/ publisher/ sponsor responsible? Credentials/ qualifications? Expert? Look for links: Home, About, Background, Contact

7. Google the name: “Homer Simpson” Truncate back the URL: http://www.thesimpsons.com/characters Use www.whois.com or.net & enter URLwww.whois.com Click: Whois Lookup

9. What? What is the accuracy of the site?

10. What? Accuracy You should answer yes: Does the info appear accurate? Can you verify facts? Is the info scholarly? Is info documented with sources or links?

11. Is/are the spelling/ grammar/ links correct? Is site linked to reputable sites? To check who links to this site: Type in Google search box: link:paste URL Example: link:http://www.fvza.org/index.html

12. When? When? When was the information created? Currency?

13. When? Currency Is page dated? (no? – don’t use!) When was page created? When was page last updated or revised? Is any info out-of-date? Are links still active? Does current date matter?

14. Where? Where does the information come from?

15. URL – Domain? ~ or % = personal page.gov = Government.mil = Military.edu = Education.org = Organization.com = Commercial.int = International.us,.uk = country codes

16. Why? Why was the page created?

17. Is the purpose: To inform? To explain? To persuade? To sell? To satirize? To entertain?

18. Does the author: State his/her purpose? Appear biased? Distinguish fact from opinion? Use excessive advertising? http://www.buydehydratedwater.com/

19. CAUTION Never use information you can’t verify! What about Wikipedia? World Book Encyclopedia? Encyclopedia Britannica? Never cite general encyclopedias like these when doing academic research!

20. Citing Information Database articles have citations! Son of Citation Machine Easy Bib NoodleTools Media Center has login info!NoodleTools Whatever you use, you must format the citation yourself & double check it!