Searching & Assessing Websites

II Form ScienceFall 2012

Six blind men were asked to determine what an elephant looked like by feeling different parts of the elephant's body. The blind man who feels a leg says the elephant is like a pillar; the one who feels the tail says the elephant is like a rope; the one who feels the trunk says the elephant is like a tree branch; the one who feels the ear says the elephant is like a hand fan; the one who feels the belly says the elephant is like a wall; and the one who feels the tusk says the elephant is like a solid pipe.A king explains to them:"All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently is because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all the features you mentioned."[1]

"Elephant and the blind men". Jain Stories. JainWorld.com. Retrieved 2011-09-20.

• Domain Types (Step #1)- Understand the difference• Company (.com, .net)• Non Profit (.org, .edu)• Individual Sites or Blogs (.org, .com, .edu) • Government- US (.gov)• Foreign Governments (.fr- France, .es- Spain)

• Currency (Step #2)- How Recent is the Information• Regularly Updated• When this is important/ When it Isn’t

• Design and Clarity of Site (Step #3)- Who’s behind the curtain?• Ownership and About Us Clearly Defined• Easy arrangement/navigation• Who’s Reputable?

First Consider the Following

Searching the Web

• Limit Our Searching- Google vs. Google Advanced

• Know your terminology- Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division

• Try related terms-http://www.ipcc.ch/ • Searching – Google Scholar & Google Books• One final note:

– Lets talk Wikipedia & How to Use Wikipedia

Lets Look at Some Sites

• Evaluation of a site can be difficult, sometimes you have to be a detective.– Examples

• http://www.globalwarming.org/ versus http://www.pewclimate.org/