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Evaluating Websites Hsiao-Chieh, Fengzhu, Shuchen, Sachie

Evaluating Websites Hsiao-Chieh, Fengzhu, Shuchen, Sachie

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Evaluating Websites

Hsiao-Chieh, Fengzhu, Shuchen, Sachie

Content

* Introduction* 5 Criteria:

1. Accuracy 2. Authority 3. Objectivity 4. Currency 5. Coverage

* Examples* Quiz Time* Conclusion

Introduction

Why should we evaluate websites?Websites:

-search engine: Google, Yahoo, etc.

-research, information

Good? Bad? Suspicious? How to evaluate?

5 criteria: Accuracy; Authority; Objectivity;

Currency; Coverage

Accuracy

Is the information reliable and error-free?Is there an editor or someone who verifies/checks the information?

RationaleSee number 1 above Unlike traditional print resources,

web resources rarely have editors or fact-checkers.

Currently, no web standards exist to ensure accuracy.

Authority

Is there an author? Is the page signed? Is the author qualified? An expert?

Who is the sponsor? Is the

sponsor of the page reputable? How reputable? Is there a

link to information about the author or the sponsor?

If the page includes neither a signature nor indicates a sponsor, is there any other way to determine its origin?

Look for a header or footer showing affiliation.

Look at the URL. http://www.fbi.gov

Look at the domain. .edu, .com, .ac.uk, .org, .net

TLD Meaning Examples

.com U.S. commercial business, a company

ibm.com, att.com, ford.com

.net Network provider, Internet Service Provider

webtv.net

.gov U.S. governmental agency

whitehouse.gov, nasa.gov

edu U.S. educational institution

uiuc.edu, stanford.edu

.org Non-profit institution

redcross.org, sfopera.org

.mil U.S. military army.mil

.int International itu.int

.biz Businesses

RationaleAnyone can publish anything on the

web. It is often hard to determine a web

page's authorship. Even if a page is signed,

qualifications are not usually provided.

Sponsorship is not always indicated.

Currency

1. Is the information on the page up-to-date?

2. Can you tell when the page was last

updated?

3. Are there dead links?

4. Is there a difference between the date the information was created and the

date the page was last updated?

Example

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/04/04/iraq.explosions/index.html?hpt=T2

http://www.nytimes.com/

Objectivity

1. Does the content reflect a bias?

2. Is the bias explicit or hidden?

3. Does the identity of the author or sponsor suggest a bias?

4. How does the bias impact the usefulness of the information?

Example

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/326/7398/1057

Coverage

Special software requirement

A fee requirement

An opinion for a suggested browser for

           

  better viewing

Adobe Reader®

Check List

Are the links (if any) evaluated and do they

complement the document’s theme?

Is it all images or a balance of text and

image?

Is the information presented cited correctly?

http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/122/1/27

Example of web sources

A trustworthy sources Authority

http://coombs.anu.edu.au/WWWVL-AsianStudies.html

Objectivity

http://www.cancer.org/

Accuracy &Coverage

http://www.socialstudies.com/c/@EOW_f3bSqI81w/Pages/holo.html

A poor web sourcehttp://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090529040508AA4iNOy

A suspicious web source

February 21, 2007

A History Department Bans Citing Wikipedia as a Research

Source

By NOAM COHEN

When half a dozen students in Neil Waters’s Japanese history class at Middlebury

College asserted on exams that the Jesuits supported the Shimabara Rebellion in

17th-century Japan, he knew something was wrong. The Jesuits were in “no position to

aid a revolution,” he said; the few of them in Japan were in hiding.

He figured out the problem soon enough. The obscure, though incorrect, information was

from Wikipedia, the collaborative online encyclopedia, and the students had picked it

up cramming for his exam.

Quiz Time

Conclusion

* Websites can be wrong and fake.

* We can use it, but do not fully trust it.

* To avoid making further mistakes,

evaluating websites first.

Works Cited

Cohen,Noam. “A History Department Bans Citing Wikipedia as a Research Source” New York: The New York Times 21 Feb 2007. 3 Apr 2010. Web. <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/21/education/

21wikipedia.html>.

International Women's Issues Tutorials. Phyllis Holman Weisbard. University of Wisconsin System

Women's Studies Librarian. 30 Jun. 2002. Web. 3 Apr. 2010. <http://www.library.wisc.edu/

projects/ggfws/iwitutorials/quizzes/searchenginequiz.htm>.

Lesley University Library. Lesley University. 03 Dec. 2007. Web. 3 Apr. 2010. <http://www.lesley.

edu/library/guides/research/evaluating_web.html>.

United States. Lake Forest College. Donnelley and Lee Library. 2010. Web. 5 Apr 2010. <http://www.

lib.lfc.edu/help/evalweb.html>.