Today's lecture was on evaluating and authenticating web information. We were told that with a lot of the information that is on the Internet, it can be misleading, untrustworthy and not updated. We were also informed that any content that is put on the Internet does not need proof reading, peer reviewing, qualifications are not needed and that basically anyone with a computer can publish information onto the Internet. When looking for reliable information on the web there are certain criteria that you should look out for. This includes:
- An author - if there is no author, be cautious with the information you are using from this particular site, it may not be accurate. However if there is an author, do some background check to make sure they are qualified to report of the topic you are getting the information on.
- The date - check to see if the information is up to date. If it is not, the information could now be wrong.
- Spelling mistakes - if there are, it may mean that the information is not credible.
- Whether information biased - if the information is highly negative or positive towards a topic, the information you are reading may be deceiving.
- Depth - if the information is vague, the author may not really no what they are talking about and therefore the information may not be credible.
Tutorial
Task 1: Describe the strategies for evaluating information found on websites.
1.To evaluate information found on the web you need to ask yourself certain questions which can point out obvious flaws on webpages and in the information. The first question you need to ask yourself is if the site addresses the topic you are looking for. This will help you choose if the site right for you and the topic that you are researching.
2.The second question you need to ask yourself is if the content on the webpage is accurate. To find out if the content is more or less accurate, you need to do some research on the author to see if they have the right credentials to report on the topic you after. By finding whether they have the right credentials for the field, you can then assume that either they have had experience or not enough experience for the topic you are writing on.
3.The third step in this process is to determine what the main purpose of the site is. Is it there to persuade you to a side of the topic (negative or positive), to inform you on the topic or is it just there to sell you something? By determining this, you are determining the motive behind the website and this can tell you whether the site information can or cannot be trusted.
4.And finally does the page have good spelling, grammar or deadlinks? This is another question you may ask yourself when considering the sites content. This will also help in the evaluating process because bad spelling and grammar can mean that the author is not educated and therefore make the site an untrustworthy source. Also deadlinks may mean that the site is old and/or the site is not yet complete.
Task 2: Reliving the Sixties: A web site evaluation assignment
American Cultural History: 1960 - 1969
Is this site a good source for the information?
This site has a lot of different information regarding the sixties. The information ranges from art to education, sports and historical events. If there were students who were looking for this particular information from the sixties era, I would say that this is a good site to get reliable information from. This is also because it is published by a library which proves to be trustworthy.
Who are the authors and who is responsible for the site? What is their expertise? What is their bias?
The author and who is responsible for the site are:
- Peggy Whitley - Designer
- Susan Goodwin - Writer
The bias of this sites information is fairly neutral. There are no points in which there are very negative or very positive points on the topic. This leads me to believe that the authors created this page purely to inform readers of the topic.
What is the sites purpose or point of view?
To give information to the public about the sixties and to people who are researching on this topic for (for example) an assignment.
Was this page designed for the web or was it a journal article (etc.)?
I think that the information on this page might have started off as a journal or in articles, because it is made up of all different parts of the sixties, and then made into a webpage so that it is easier to get to the information all at once.
Sixties Project
Was this site a good source for the information?
I found that this site did not have much information about the sixties and is mostly made up of discussions and sponsored links.
Do you have good reason to believe that the information on this site is accurate? Are the facts documented?
If I were searching a topic on the sixties i would look at the first page and think that it was an unworthy site to gather information from.
Who are the authors and who is responsible for the site? What is their expertise?
The designer of this page is New Word Order. The link provided for this designer led to a webpage which had many sponsored links to other pages on it.
What is the sites purpose or point of view?
In regards to the information on this website, I would say that this site does not really have a purpose but to start discussions.
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