Evaluating Websites Hsiao-Chieh, Fengzhu, Shuchen, Sachie.
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Transcript of 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?
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.
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>.