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How to Evaluate Web Content

How to Evaluate Web Content. Stephen Perry, Regional Information Resources Officer, WASHINGTON, D.C. PERRYSX2@STATE.GOV 202-632-2747 Washington, DC. Thanks to many authors for their invaluable ideas; last revised September 2011. “Do you want to find the Best Resources on the Internet?”.

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How to Evaluate Web Content

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  1. How to Evaluate Web Content Stephen Perry, Regional Information Resources Officer, WASHINGTON, D.C. PERRYSX2@STATE.GOV 202-632-2747 Washington, DC Thanks to many authors for their invaluable ideas; last revised September 2011

  2. “Do you want to find the Best Resources on the Internet?” • “Casual users and serious researchers place their trust in the accuracy and completeness of the data on the network. They’re relying upon information of unknown pedigree and dubious quality, since precious little on the Internet has been refereed or reviewed.” • Clifford Stoll, Silicon Snake Oil: Second Thoughts on the Information Highway. New York, Doubleday, pg. 125

  3. Why evaluate? • The Web is a no man’s land, where anyone with sufficient skills can publish any opinion they wish. • Therefore, experience tells us that you will need additional and critical skills to locate information of real quality and value.

  4. What do you think of this site?At the end of this session, your Homework assignment will be to evaluate it carefully.

  5. Another view of this Web Page: what do you notice about this page? Who is responsible for it? From what you will learn, please analyze this site

  6. Yet one more view of this web site that purports to tell the truth about Dr. King: what do you think?

  7. AUTHORITY • Who or what organization is responsible for the content? • Is all contact information readily available? • How easy is it to reach someone if you have questions about the content or authenticity of the Web Page? • Does the Web Page list information about the organization or individuals responsible for the content and design of the page?

  8. II. ACCURACY • Are all the links and information verified? • Is the information cited correctly? • Who publishes the content and who is responsible for updating it? • JUDGE: DOES THIS SITE PRESENT ACCURATE AND AUTHORITATIVE INFORMATION?

  9. III. APPROACH • What is the purpose of the content and why was it produced? • Does the content have a goal? [Advertising vs. Educational vs. Propaganda?] • How objective is the information? Is it one person’s or one organization’s point of view or opinion only?

  10. IV. AGE ONLINE • When was the Web Page last updated? Does the Web Page state explicitly “Last Updated …” • How many dead links [Web Rot] are on the page? • Does the page indicate a contact or an email address for additional information? • Judge: Is the information timely?

  11. V. AUDIENCE LEVEL • Is the Web Page geared for a specific audience? (i.e. Children/Adults/Teens/Political or Religious Affiliation or Ideology, etc.?) • Is the content generic or very specific? • JUDGE: WHAT IS THE VALUE OF THIS SITE?

  12. VI. ACCESSIBILITY • How Accessible is the web site? • Consider issues such as use of color, patterns, organization, whether the site offers the full text of documents listed or only a portion. • Is the site or part of it under construction? For how long? • Does the Web Page have a SITE INDEX for greater accessibility? • JUDGE: HOW EASY IS THIS SITE TO USE?

  13. A REVIEW OF POINTS JUST COVERED • QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN LOOKING AT WEB SITES: • Who manages the site? • When was it last updated? • Easy to use? Navigable? • Contains primary or secondary information? • Example: Second hand news or the original source? • Does the Site give you just their interpretation or version of events with no references to other interpretations? • Does the Web Site offer Opinion or Fact?

  14. Better Search Engines that actively evaluate information via a human filter: http://www.ipl.org

  15. INFOMINE: http://infomine.ucr.edu

  16. Virtual Library: http://www.vlib.org

  17. Pinakes: http://www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/pinakes/pinakes.html

  18. INTERNET PUBLIC LIBRARY: http://www.ipl.org

  19. For Legal and Business Information: http://www.llrx.com

  20. Distance Education: Quality Online Courses for Continuing Education: http://ocw.mit.edu

  21. Reference/Fast Facts at a Glance: http://www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference

  22. For NGOs and Development Work around the World

  23. Poynter Site for Journalists: www.poynter.org

  24. NEW SEARCH ENGINES AVAILABLE: from the http://www.llrx.com web site—These sites use subject experts to evaluate the best sites in your subject areas

  25. A QUIZ AND A REVIEW • Compare two statistical sites related to WOMEN AND AIDS: • Go to GOOGLE AND TYPE IN “AIDS AND WOMEN AND STATISTICS” and compare the results and the types of web pages you retrieve. • What did you discover through this exercise?

  26. MORE REVIEWING VIA AN ONLINE EXERCISE: • Search Google for information on your country…or …a topic of your choice. Name the top 5 web sites --using and applying the criteria you just learned. • Look at www.martinlutherking.org and discuss the problems with it. Does the site present opinion or fact? How can you tell?

  27. AN ADDITIONAL QUIZ • READ THE ONLINE ARTICLE: “In GOOGLE WE TRUST: INFORMATION INTEGRITY IN THE DIGITAL AGE” BY LEE SHAKER. FIRST MONDAY, vol. 11, no. 4 (APRIL 2006): • Available at: http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue11_4/shaker/index.html • What lessons did you learn from this article?

  28. QUIZ TIME • Now go to http://www.ipl.org and type in your country name in the search window provided and see if there is a difference in the quality of the sites offered by Internet Public Library http://www.ipl.org) and Google. • What did you learn from this exercise?

  29. More information on how to evaluate web pages can be found through the following web sites • http://www.library.jhu.edu/researchhelp/general/evaluating/ • http://library.albany.edu/internet/evaluate.html • http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html • http://www.virtualchase.com/quality/index.html

  30. More Sites with Information on how to evaluate Web Sites: • RUTGERS: http://newarkwww.rutgers.edu/guides/evaluate.htm • ITHACA: http://www.ithaca.edu/library/training/think5.html • ALBANY: A series of Internet Tutorials available at: http://library.albany.edu/internet/ • A Checklist for Evaluating Information: http://library.usm.maine.edu/research/researchguides/webevaluating.html

  31. More Sources to help you actively evaluate information: ◙ Learn to Think Critically Project: http://www.lifehacker.com/software/feature/seek-and-ye-shall-find-how-to-evaluate-sources-on-the-web-137843.php ◙ From About.com: http://websearch.about.com/od/referencesearch/a/evaluatesource.htm?rd=1 ◙ From a University Web Site: http://ejw.i8.com/webeval.htm ◙ The Web Credibility Project at Stanford University: http://credibility.stanford.edu/

  32. IF YOU MUST INSIST ON USING GOOGLE, then PLEASE USE GOOGLE INTELLIGENTLY: here are ideas: www.blueroom.com/google/index.htm

  33. Finally, have a research strategy in mind. Here is one from the U of Kentucky Libraries: http://www.kyvl.org/kids/homebase.html

  34. Here is the second half of the UKENTUCKY Diagram

  35. The End Thank You for Your Attention! PERRYSX2@STATE.GOV STEPHEN PERRY 202-632-2747 IRO CENTRAL / SOUTHERN/ EASTERN AFRICA Last revised 9/2011

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