Evaluating Websites

1.When you get curious or want to find information on the Internet, what do you usually do?

2.What makes a website credible (How do you know if a website has good information)?

Acronym for information quality

CredibilityAccuracyReasonablenessSupport

Check out the URL (.edu or .gov for example)

Check the sponsor/author (individual, government sponsor, etc.

Determine the site’s purpose (are they selling information?)

credibility

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Correct information

Up-to-date (for topic)

Spelling or grammatical errors

accuracy

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Tone: professional, authoritative, angry

Bias: does it lean more to one side?

Logic: does it make sense?

reasonableness

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Sponsored or authored

Cited: (research evidence provided)

Contact information

support

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When searching online, read the information below each link before just clicking and thinking you “cant find anything.”

Pretend that you have been asked to put together an assignment on the latest research into treatments for arthritis and decide to use a search engine to find material.

LOOK at and READ through the next few slides that EXPLAIN search results.

• Sponsored links 1) How To Cure ArthritisEnd Arthritis Pain Quickly Latest All-Natural Remedywww.quack.com

• 2) Arthritis FoundationFile Not found. This page has been replaced or moved to the new Arthritis FoundationWebsite. Please visit our site map for links to our interactive tools, ...www.arthritisfoundation.org/conditions/JointHealth/Risks.asp

• 3) Treating ArthritisWhat is arthritis? cures, treatments, ...www.westsidejuniorhigh.edu/projects/arthritis/

• 4) Arthritis Research CampaignThe Arthritis Research Campaign (ARC), founded in 1936, raises funds to promote medical

research into the cause, treatment and cure of arthritic conditions ...www.arc.org.uk

You searched for "treatments for arthritis" - results 1 - 4 of many

Your own footer Your Logo

Result Number 1

Sponsored links 1) How To Cure ArthritisEnd Arthritis Pain Quickly Latest All-Natural Remedywww.quack.com

This looks like the information could have been promising but the 'File not found' message suggests that this particular page is no longer available on the site. move on...

Result Number 2

2) Arthritis FoundationFile Not found. This page has been replaced or moved to the new Arthritis FoundationWebsite. Please visit our site map for links to our interactive tools, ...www.arthritisfoundation.org/conditions/JointHealth/Risks.asp

This first resource is actually an advert or "sponsored link" which matches the keywords that the advertisers paid for in order to promote their services. This is not always a bad thing but you need to be aware that the information is more likely to be commercial, which in this case isn't relevant to our needs.

Result Number 3

3) Treating ArthritisWhat is arthritis? cures, treatments, ...www.westsidejuniorhigh.edu/projects/arthritis/

The title of the page looks good - however, when you get to the site you find that it is a project report from Class 2B at Westside Junior High School in the US which again isn't really suitable for our information needs. Looking at the URL will give you some prior indication of this before you click on the link.

Result Number 4

4) Arthritis Research CampaignThe Arthritis Research Campaign (ARC), founded in 1936, raises funds to promote medical research into the cause, treatment and cure of arthritic conditions ...www.arc.org.uk

This is the site of the Arthritis Research Campaign whose purpose is to fund research into arthritic pain. The URL supports this and date shows that the page was last updated recently - looks like we might finally be getting somewhere!

• Visit the following websites and complete the handout titled Evaluating Web Sites. Use one side of handout for the mayo clinic

site, and use the other side fro the dhmo site– http://www.mayoclinic.com/– http://www.dhmo.org/

YOUR TURN