Sources: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly How to evaluate reliable Internet sources.
Transcript of Sources: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly How to evaluate reliable Internet sources.
Sources: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
How to evaluate reliable Internet sources
If It’s on the Internet, It Must Be True, Right????
Unfortunately, anyone can upload anything to the web, whether it is true or not.
For example:
http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/
http://www.buydehydratedwater.com/
No Internet Police
Unlike with most books and journals, the Internet has no one to read and confirm or deny the posted information before it is published.
No one filters the information for accuracy.
What happens when anyone can post anything?
The Good from the Bad
When you are researching for a paper or you just Google something, it is easy to be fooled by websites that seem to be reliable.
Here are some examples:
New Hartford, Minnesota - Visit the city of New Hartford, Minnesota.
Mankato, Minnesota - Visit Mankato, Minnesota.
Tricky!
The previous two web pages look real but New Hartford, Minnesota is not a real city, and the Mankato web page is a fake. Mankato, Minnesota is a real city, but this is not their web site.
The real Mankato, Minnesota's web site is at http://www.ci.mankato.mn.us/
The Really Bad
The World Trade Organization web site at http://www.gatt.org/ is a counterfeit. The actual World Trade Organization site is at http://www.wto.org/.
The Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division at http://www.dhmo.org/ provides a lot of information about this essential chemical. Or does it? Can you figure this one out?
The Ugly
Some internet sites look like they have good information but are really designed to fool you. The site about Martin Luther King, Jr. at http://www.martinlutherking.org/ looks real but it is run by a neo-Nazi organization and is filled will fake facts, misleading information, and racist content.
The Stanford University's Martin Luther King, Jr. site at http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/ is a trustworthy web site for information.
Be Careful!
Even really smart people (doctors and college professors), can be fooled by sources that seem real, but are not.
Rule of 3
So, How Do We Find Good Sources?
Look for the following to evaluate your sources:
Author
Organization
Bias
Current
Works Cited/Bibliography
Audience
Looks
Domain Names
Evaluation Criteria: Author
Who is the author or publisher?
How much experience does the author have in this area?
Author’s occupation?
Author’s educational background?
No author? Check out the company or organization.
Is there contact information?
Evaluation Criteria: Organization
Is the page easy to read?
Is the site easy to navigate?
Is there a Site Search box?
Are the graphics helpful or distracting?
Are there spelling or grammar errors?
Evaluation Criteria: Bias
What is Bias?
What is the purpose of the site?
Inform you? Persuade you? Sell you something?
Indicators of bias?
Author’s point of view
Trying to sell you a product
Full of opinions – trying to persuade
Extreme language
Appeal to emotions
Evaluation Criteria: Current
When was the page published or last updated?
Is it being updated to reflect new trends or current news?
If a few years old, is it still adequate for your research?
Are the links still active?
Evaluation Criteria: Miscellaneous
Works Cited/Bibliography
Audience
Adults? Students? Toddlers? Rocket Scientists?
Looks
Flashy? Plain?
Domain Names
.com (commercial)
.org (organization – non-profit)
.edu (educational)
.net (network)
What Criteria are Covered on This Site?
www.wiu.edu
Wikipedia/Ask.com
Issues with Wikipedia:
There is often no way to know who is editing the entries in Wikipedia.
What are their credentials/experience on the subject?
You cannot be sure that the content is “permanent”
Issues with Ask.com:
Further research is needed for most questions
There is no way to know who is answering your question
What are their credentials/experience on the subject?
Also, be careful using sites with a lot of advertising/pop-ups
Using Search Engines (Google, Yahoo, Etc.)
Every word matters.
All the words you put in the search box will be used.
“What is a verb?” will search for “what” “is” “a” “verb”
Keep it simple; describe what you need with as few terms as possible.
“In what country are bats considered an omen of good luck?” – TOO MUCH!
Try – “bats good luck”
Choose descriptive words.
“Celebrity sounds” – TOO VAGUE
Try – “celebrity ringtones”
Be prepared to describe your subject in many different ways.
Weather (what kind?)
Tornado
Twister
Winds
Storms
Kansas
The Bottom Line
Really think about the source you are about to use before you use it!
Remember the Rule of 3!
Sites on Citing (get it?)
The Owl at Perdue
Education Place
Montgomery College
Sample Bibliography/Works Cited
Bibliography (where I found my information for this presentation)
http://resources.metapress.com/pdf-preview.axd?code=123m73315vv37804&size=largest
http://taft.cr.k12.ia.us/departments/weblinks/bermuda.html
http://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/web-eval-sites.htm
http://www.physics.nyu.edu/sokal/lingua_franca_v4/lingua_franca_v4.html
http://digitalliteracy.cornell.edu/tutorial/dpl3222.html