How to judge a website by its cover. Prepared for you by Mrs. Durand

Transcription

1 How to judge a website by its cover Prepared for you by Mrs. Durand

2 How can you tell if a website is good? You should be checking 5 things to determine if a website will be valuable to your research: Accuracy Authority Objectivity Currency Coverage

3 On a Good Page: You can find the author (A webmaster is not an author, unless otherwise stated.) The document was written for informational purposes. The author is qualified to write about the topic. There is a way to contact the author. Accuracy On a Bad Page: You can t figure out who wrote it. The document was produced to inflame or incite. The person writing the document does not have authority in the field. If there is an author, there is no way to contact them.

4 On a Good Page: The author is separate from the webmaster. The institution that published the page is reputable. There are credentials listed for the author(s). The domain of the site is credible and from a country that has authority over the matter. Authority On a Bad Page: The webmaster is the only name listed, if any are listed at all. The institution that published the page is not reputable. If there is an author at all, no credentials are listed. The page is published by an institution who has no authority in the matter being discussed.

5 On a Good Page: The site doesn t provide a slanted view or opinion. The information is very detailed. If there are opinions expressed, they are expressed in such a way as to not be inflammatory. The site is not a mask for advertising. Other people and organizations who link to the site are respectable. Objectivity On a Bad Page: The site has a slanted point of view or opinion. The information is scarce. Opinions are expressed in an inflammatory way. The site is a mask for advertising. The organizations that link to the website are not reputable.

6 On a Good Page: It was produced recently. It was updated recently. The links are current. There are few or no dead links. The information on the page is up to date. Currency On a Bad Page: The page was not produced recently. The page was not updated recently. The links are not current. Many links are dead. The information on the page is outdated.

7 On a Good Page: The links make sense on the page. There is a balance between the text and the images. The information presented is properly cited. The page does not require special software to get to the information. You don t have to pay for the information. There are options to view the page as text only or without frames if hard to read. Coverage On a Bad Page: The links do not match the content of the page. There are more images than text. The information is not cited. The page requires special software to view. You have to pay for the information. You can only view the page as it is presented to you, even if that makes it hard to read.

8 Putting it all together Accuracy. If your page lists the author and institution that published the page and provides a way of contacting him/her and... Authority. If your page lists the author credentials and its domain is preferred (.edu,.gov, or.k12), and... Objectivity. If your page provides accurate information with limited advertising and it is objective in presenting the information, and... Currency. If your page is current and updated regularly (as stated on the page) and the links (if any) are also up-to-date, and... Coverage. If you can view the information properly--not limited to fees, browser technology, or software requirement, then...

9 So now that you know what to look for, how do you find it?

10 how do you find it? Look at the domain: The domain name is what comes after Look at the extension: A good extension is.k12,.edu or.gov. Find a complete list of extensions at dictionary/noframes/nf.domains.html Find the publisher: Who links to the page? Go to and do a link search by typing link:

11 What else should I check?? Are you on a personal page? You may or may not recognize the domain name or extension of a URL. Keep reading past the first forward slash / for more clues. If you are on a personal page the information you are reading may or may not be trustworthy. A personal page is a web site created by an individual. The web site may contain useful information, links to important resources and helpful facts, but sometimes these pages offer highly biased opinions. The presence of a name in the URL such as jdoe and a tilde ~ or % or the word users or people or members frequently means you are on a personal web site. Even if a site has the extension,.edu, you still need to keep a look out for personal pages.

12 Recap: What are you looking for? Author: Should be clear on the page you are looking at, may be found on the contact us page. Name of Web Page: In the blue bar at the upper left hand corner of the web browser. Date of Posting/Revision: Most recent date located on the website. You might also find it at index.php. Name of Institution/Organization: Should be listed on the website home page. Date you Accessed the Site: The most recent date you have looked at the web site. URL: Found in the address bar.

13 MLA Style Web Page How do you cite a website?,.. Author(s) Last, First. Title of article or individual web page. Name of web site in italics Web site publ. sponsor/inst. or org.. Web.. Date Published, Month(abbrev.) & Yr Date viewed by you, Month &Yr. < >. <electronic address or URL>.