Evaluating information on the www Holy Spirit Library

Evaluating information on the www Holy Spirit Library Cabrini College www. cabrini. edu/library/ For Reference Assistance: 610. 902. 8568 or 610. 902. 8536 1

Evaluating information on the www o o o Reasons to evaluate Guidelines for evaluating the information Types of web pages n o Anatomy of a url Evaluation Criteria 2

Reasons to evaluate o Anyone can create a Web page n n n o o advertise a product, service recreation, entertainment disseminate propaganda Facts and opinions are mixed Payment schemes n n Pay per click: Keywords auctioned to advertisers Pay per action: Advertisers pay only when a click results in an action. 3

Types of Web Pages o Personal n n o individual’s information (~). com, . name Informational (Specialized) n n o o News n most up to date information n . com, . net Advocacy n n influence public opinion. org o presents factual/technical info. edu, . gov, museum, . aero, . mil, . pro Commercial/Business n sells a product . com, . . net, . biz, . coop General n o n n general purpose use. info 4

Anatomy of a url o https: //www. cia. gov/library/reports/general-reports 1/iraq_human_shields/index. html n n o The protocol: http: // The URL web server (domain): www. cia. gov The path of the document: library/reports/general-reports-1/iraq_human_shields/ The file: index. html http: //www. whitehouse. net 5

Evaluation criteria o o o Five Criteria for Evaluating a Web Page Authority Accuracy/Objectivity Currency Audience Purpose 6

Evaluation Criteria o Authority n o Audience n o Is the content accurate, objective, and supported by other sources? Purpose n o For whom is the page intended/written? Accuracy n o Who is the author or institution? What is the purpose of the web page? Currency n How current is the information? 7

Authority o o Who is the author or institution? Is there biographical information about the author? If an institution has written the resource, does it give information about that institution, including its purpose, history, and street address? What clues does the URL give you about a source’s authority? (. edu, . gov, . com, . org. , and so forth) 8

Accuracy/objectivity o o Is the content accurate and objective? Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, or institutional biases? If the information is opinion, is this clearly stated? If other sources have been used, is this acknowledged? Are there footnotes or references to these sources? 9

Audience o o Is the Web page intended for the general public, or is it meant for scholars, practitioners, children, and so forth? Does the Web page meet the needs of its stated audience? 10

Purpose o o What is the purpose of the page? Is the purpose of the information to inform, explain, persuade, market a product, or advocate a cause? Is the purpose clearly stated? Does the resource fulfill the stated purpose? 11

Currency o o o How current is the information? Is there a date on the Web page that indicates when the page was placed on the Web? Is it clear when the page was last updated? Is some of the information obviously out-of-date? Does the page creator mention how frequently the material is updated? 12

Evaluating pages: Melville o o o http: //www. pinenet. com/~rooster/melville. ht ml http: //www. geocities. com/So. Ho/Den/1151/me lville/bartleby. htm http: //www. csustan. edu/english/reuben/pal/ch ap 3/melville. html 13

Evaluating Web Sites o o www. google. com n o o http: //www. martinlutherking. org /library. html o http: //www. peepresearch. org/ o http: //www. dhmo. org/ Authority Audience n o http: //www. nlm. nih. gov/medline plus/ o Is the content accurate, objective, and supported by other sources? Purpose n o For whom is the page intended/written? Accuracy n o Who is the author or institution? What is the purpose of the web page? Currency n How current is the information? 14