Rules of Thumb
Evaluating Websites
The Tale of Calamity Jane Austin:
A student “googled” the author . . .
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and located a webpage on Austin’s life .
. .
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and a link to a webpage on Austin’s
novels . . . .
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The student took notes for a
presentation . . .
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And created a colorful poster . . . .
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However, Jane Austen wrote these novels:
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You need to evaluate Websites
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Why evaluate?
The World Wide Web can be a great place to accomplish research on many
topics.
Loading documents or pages on the web, however, is easy, cheap or free,
unregulated, and unmonitored.
Search engines rank results by the frequency and placement of keywords on
a page, and by how many other sites link to it, not by evaluating content.
The burden is on you to establish the validity, authorship, timeliness, and
integrity of what you find.
If you want to use the Internet for serious research, you need to cultivate
the habit of healthy skepticism, of questioning everything you find with
critical thinking.
NVRHS OT – LMC – Information Skills
Reason 1: Quantity
The Internet is a virtual
library, consisting of an
unlimited amount of
information
Anyone is allowed to publish,
access, and link to this
information
1994 = 900 Websites
2007 > 100 million
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Reason 2: Quality
Information that has been
published on the Web, is no
indication of its believability
or accuracy.
Websites are posted with
omissions and errors –
intentional OR accidental
No editors
No standards
No approval ratings
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Reason 3: Purpose
Websites are created for a
variety of purposes:
to inform,
persuade,
sell, and
change attitudes or
beliefs.
Websites adhering to
scholarly standards may
have pages that are posted
by individuals.
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Rule of Thumb
In Ancient Rome,
Thumbs up = life
Thumbs down = death
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What to evaluate
ABCs:
Accuracy
Authority
Bias-free
Coverage
Currency
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Accuracy
Reasons
Unlike traditional print
resources, web resources
rarely have editors or fact-
checkers.
Currently, no web standards
exist to ensure accuracy.
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Questions to Determine Accuracy
Are the facts correct? Are their sources cited?
Can you verify the information? What is another site that could
be accessed to verify the data?
Are there inaccuracies, Like
typos? Are there links to other sites or
sources on the topic?
Does the site have a reliable
author or organization behind it? What print resources could be
used?
Can the author be contacted for
clarification? Is the content of the site a true
reflection of what it says it is?
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Techniques for Evaluating Accuracy
Look for links called "additional sites," "related links," etc.
In the text, if you see little footnote numbers or links that might refer to
documentation, take the time to explore them. What kinds of publications
or sites are they? Are they real?
Find out what other web pages link to this page.
Look up the publisher's name in a search engine.
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Authority
Reasons
Anyone 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.
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Questions to Determine Authority
Is there an author listed? Who is the sponsor?
Is the sponsor of the page
How much experience does the reputable? How reputable?
author have in this area?
Is there a link to information
What is the author's occupation? about the author or the sponsor?
What is the author's educational If the Webpage does NOT include
either the author or the
background? publisher, can you use any other
tools to determine its origin?
What is the author's reputation
among others in the field?
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Techniques for Evaluating Authority
Look for a header or footer showing affiliation, such as links that say "About
us," "Philosophy," "Background," "Biography," "Who am I," etc.
Look at the URL. http://www.fbi.gov, ~personal name, or %member
Look at the domain. .edu, .com, .ac.uk, .org, .net
If you cannot find any links like these, you can often find this kind of
information if you truncate back the URL.
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Bias-Free
Reasons
Frequently the goals of the
sponsors/authors are not
clearly stated.
Often the Web serves as a
virtual soapbox.
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Questions to Determine Bias-Freedom
What are the stated goals of this Is the language of the document
page? often extreme?
What point of view does the Is the Website trying to argue a
author represent? position?
Is the website sponsored by a Does the argument appeal more
company or organization that to the emotions than to reason?
advocates a certain philosophy?
Does the argument oversimplify
or over generalize?
Is the page designed to sway
opinion?
Is there any advertising on the
page?
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Techniques for Evaluating Bias
Why was the page posted to the web? To inform or give facts and data?
Explain or persuade? Sell or entice? Share? Disclose?
Think about the tone of the page. Is it humorous? A parody?
Exaggerated? Does it have overblown arguments?
Be sensitive to the possibility that it is ironic, a spoof, fraud, or other
falsehood.
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Coverage
Reasons
Web coverage often differs
from print coverage.
Frequently, it's difficult to
determine the extent of
coverage of a topic from a
web page.
The page may or may not
include links to other web
pages or print references.
Sometimes web information
is "just for fun", someone's
personal expression, or a
hoax.
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Questions to Determine Coverage
Scope Audience
Who is the intended
What items are included in audience?
the resource?
Is the material too technical
or too clinical?
What is the breadth of the
website?
Is it too elementary or
basic?
How in-depth is the
material? Could you locate the
information in other
formats?
Does the site contain
original information or What does this page offer
simply links? that you cannot find
anywhere else?
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Currency
Reasons
Publication or revision dates
are not always provided.
If a date is provided, it may
have various meanings.
It may indicate when
the material was first
written
It may indicate when
the material was first
placed on the Web
It may indicate when
the material was last
revised
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Questions to Determine Currency
Is the web page dated? Does the original date of
publication affect the reliability of
Is the web site dated? the information?
Does the date the Webpage was
Has it been updated? When? updated affect the reliability of
the information?
How accurately can you
determine the date of publication How current are the links? Have
or updating? any expired or moved?
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Five “Thumbs” Rules
Accuracy
Authority
Bias-free
Coverage
Currency
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If . . ., then . . .
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If not . . .
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Works Cited
Barker, Joe. "Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask ." UC Berkeley - Teaching
Library Internet Workshops . 12Dec2006. UC Berkeley. 21 Dec 2006
.
Beck, Susan E.. "Evaluation Criteria." The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: or, Why It's a Good Idea to Evaluate
Web Sources. 19 Oct 2006. New Mexico State University Library . 21 Dec 2006
.
Caspers, Jean. "Criteria for Evaluating Information Sources." Nicholson Library. Fall 2006. Linfield College.
21 Dec 2006 .
"Evaluate Web Pages." Wolfgram Memorial Library. Widener University. 21 Dec 2006
.
Grassian, Esther. "Hoax? Scholarly Research? Personal Opinion? You Decide!." UCLA College Library. 13
June 2006. University of California. 21 Dec 2006
.
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Works Cited 2
Kaisler, Lora K.. "MicroModule: accuracy ." 21st Century Information Fluency Project. 2003. Illinois Science
and Mathematics Academy. 21 Dec 2006 .
Kaisler, Lora K. and Dennis O’Connor. "Date: How Recently Was the Page Published or Updated?." 21st
Century Information Fluency Project. 2003. Illinois Science and Mathematics Academy. 21 Dec 2006
.
Kaisler, Lora K. and Dennis O’Connor. "Indicators of Bias." 21st Century Information Fluency Project.
2003. Illinois Science and Mathematics Academy. 21 Dec 2006
.
Kaisler, Lora K. and Dennis O’Connor "Who is the Author?." 21st Century Information Fluency Project.
Illinois Science and Mathematics Academy. 21 Dec 2006
.
McMillin, Paul. "Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Pages." (Transcribed from Jim Kapoun. "Teaching
Undergrads WEB Evaluation: A Guide for Library Instruction." C&RL News (July/August 1998): 522-523.)
Olin & Uris Library. 11 Dec 2006. Cornell Universtiy Library. 21 Dec 2006
.
Image sources:
Emperor, http://www.theartofpolitics.com, 10 May 2007.
Austen’s novels, Bergen County Computer Library System Catalog @ http://www.bccls.org, 11 May 2007.
Catroon, http://www.unc.edu/depts/jomc/academics/dri/idog.jpg @
http://www.unc.edu/depts/jomc/academics/dri/idog.html, 20 December, 2006
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