1. Internet Sources An Introduction to evaluating information on the Internet

2. Why Evaluate Web Sources?  Amount of information  Anonymity  No quality control  Ease of publishing

3. Internet myths  Everything is on the Internet  Everything is free  All the information on the Internet is true

4. Basic Evaluation Criteria Accuracy Authority Objectivity Currency

5. ACCURACY  Is the information reliable and based on fact?

6. Accuracy: Problems  Anyone can publish on the Web  Most websites are unfiltered (no one to check the facts)

7. Accuracy: Questions  Who is responsible for the accuracy of the web page? The author? The webmaster? ME! I Dood It!

8. Accuracy: Questions  Does the author list sources?  Can the information be verified elsewhere

9. Accuracy Example http://www.improbable.com /airchives/classical/cat/cat. html

10. AUTHORITY  Qualifications of the author  Reputation of the publisher

11. Authority: Problems  Authorship difficult to determine on many web pages  Author’s qualifications often not given ?

12. Authority: Questions  Who wrote or sponsors the page?  Can you contact the author? (e-mail address)

13. Authority: Questions  What are the author’s credentials?  Is the author affiliated with an institution?

14. Authority Example http://www.geocities.com/C apeCanaveral/Lab/4485/ind ex.html

15. OBJECTIVITY  Is the information on the web page biased?  Is the author trying to influence your opinion on the topic?

16. Objectivity: Problems  Web makes a great “virtual soapbox”  Many groups don’t explicitly state their goals

17. Objectivity: Questions  What is the purpose of the web page, stated or not? (Is it really an ad?)  How detailed or one- sided is the information given?

18. Objectivity: Questions  Does the author(s) state any personal opinions?  Is this page trying to convince me of something? If so, what?

19. Objectivity Example http://www.tide.com/stainD et/

20. CURRENCY  Timeliness of information / Up-to-date

21. Currency: Problems  A great many documents are created and allowed to sit on the web for years without being updated  Many web pages don’t indicate a date of creation or last revision

22. Currency: Questions  When was the web page created?  When was it last updated?  Is there a copyright date? Update me NOW!!!

23. Currency: Questions  Do all the links work?  Does the information on the page seem somehow out of date? I feel so out-of-date