evaluating websites

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmx4twCK3_I

Can be daunting with its volumes of resources

Takes skill & perseverance. Should be done with prudence when

› selecting sites for your students to use

› doing online research

Magnitude of resources Any person can create a webpage Search engines (Google) do not

scrutinize sites › In fact, the top results are often the top

results because companies PAY to be there!!

Informational Opinion Point of View or Perspective Commercial or business Personal

A: Authorship/Authenticity (Verifiability) B: Bias or Point of View C: Currency/Content

Author is well-known and well- regarded

Positive referral from another trusted source

Biographical information is given Other contact information is supplied

Explanations of research methods provided

Bibliography / links to supporting documents

Individuals/sources are identifiable Use other sources to cross-reference

Name or link to governing organization Organization is:

› Recognizable› Suitable to topic at hand

Identified relationship between author and server

Verify server where document resides

Decide where webpage resides (URL)

› Corporate site?› Political agenda?› Philosophical agenda?

Date of information Publication date Date of last revision Current, active links

Look at the material that is presented on the page

Are there any misspelled words? Does the information appear reliable

and valid? Can you find this information elsewhere

on the web?

.edu = Education Site .com = Commercial Sites -

Unrestricted! .gov = Government Agency .org = Organizations – Unrestricted! .net = Intended for ISP’s & Networks

(but can be purchased) .info = Unrestricted!

.biz = Intended for Business – Unrestricted!

.pro = Professionals/Organizations .k12.nj.us = Public / Private Schools .library.nj.us = Public Libraries .state.nj.us = Official State Websites .name = Individual, Personal Website

Web Search Strategies In Plain English http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8a

YoVpdz8o Hints on identifying personal pages are

available inUnderstanding and Decoding URLs.

http://www.library.jhu.edu/researchhelp/general/evaluating/url.html

Read "Rising Tide: Sites Born of Hate", New York Times, March 18, 1999 to learn about tough-to-detect extremist point of views.

http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/02/circuits/articles/18hate.html

Get students to evaluate web pages by exploring these hoax sites!

http://www.shsu.edu/~lis_mah/documents/TCEA/hoaxtable.html

Topic: Psychology of Parenting Started doing research to develop my

thesis Psychology Today Articles Parental attention, when taken to an

extreme known as helicopter parenting, has a detrimental impact on a child’s psychosocial development.

Follow directions for creating an account in packet #1

Mini-lesson: › Creating a project› Starting a bibliography› Electronic Note cards› http://www.chathamcentralschools.com/