BECAUSE IT’
S ON THE
WEB IT’S T
RUE….RIGHT??
T H E R E I S A WO R K S H E E T T O C O M
P L E T E A T T H E E N D O F T H I S
P P T ……
E A R B U D S A L L O WE D …
.
Evaluating Websites
BEFORE USING A WEBSITE FOR RESEARCH ASK THESE QUESTIONS FIRST…….
Who ? Authority
Why ? Purpose
What? Credenti
alsWhen ? Current
WHOWho writes for the website? Are the authors experts in their field/authority on the topic? Who publishes the website? Are they well-known ?Can you contact them? Is there a phone number or mailing address (look for “about us” links
to find that information)
If you cannot find the information on the website, then look up the website at www.whois.domaintools.com
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE SITE?
To
Inform ?
To Sell ?To Persuade ?
TO INFORMFor research you want to use sites that are INFORMING you (not selling or persuading or entertaining you)ASK yourself--- Is it OBJECTIVE ? Or is it biased or prejudiced ? Are the authors or publishers of the website trying to persuade you to
their point of view? Are they trying to sell you something? Are they entertaining you and creating a spoof?
What’s wrong with this site http://allaboutexplorers.com/
WHEN WAS THE SITE CREATED OR LAST UPDATED? CURRENCY
Is it CurrentIs it contemporary
Or is it outdated?
Look for a date at the bottom of the website, or look for the date in
whois.domaintools.com.
CAPOW!Before watching this video about
evaluating websites can you figure out what some of the letters in the acronym CAPOW stand for?
(they were used in this tutorial)
WHERE DOES THE INFORMATION COME FROM?
Domains are clues
.edu
.gov
.mil
.com
.net
.org
DOMAINS MOST RELIABLE FOR RESEARCH.edu (education)
.gov (government)
.mil (military)
EVALUATE THESE DOMAINS CLOSELY:.com (commercial) they may be trying to sell you something
.org (organization) mostly non-profits BUT now anyone can buy a .org domain so sometimes they are ‘hate
sites’ or spoofs
.net (network)
Always check facts from 3 sources to avoid being fooled from spoofs like the All About Explorers website.
REVIEWHere are criteria to remember when evaluating
websites:Authority (Who) Are they experts in their field?Accuracy Are all facts correct? Coverage Does the site offer enough information? Currency (When) Is there a copyright and update dateObjectivity Is it unbiased? Is it fact based not opinion
based?Purpose (Why) Why are they publishing the site? To
inform or sell
LINK TO THIS VIDEO
View this xtranormal project that explains how to evaluate websites slightly differently then the CAPOW video.
WORKSHEET
Open the worksheet (also located on the my website: pjhlindaray.comSave to your U-DriveComplete answers (this will be graded)Print and hand in to me
When finished, begin researching your topic.
