Addison
Information Literacy
STUDY
Evaluating
the Web Site Information
 Objectives
for students:
- I can identify the criteria for evaluating a
source.
- I can select and evaluate a web source
Did you
know that?
Not everything available on the
Internet is acceptable to use for academic research projects!
 Anyone can and does publish
anything on the World Wide Web.
Web sources are not verified
by editors or fact checkers as is done before print publication.
Web standards of quality are not
fully developed.
Therefore, you need to know the criteria for evaluating your sources
and be able to apply that criteria when selecting sources for your
research, speeches and papers.
Teacher Modeling:
Before you use a Web
site for a research project, make sure that it passes your evaluation
according to the criteria for evaluating a source: Authority, Purpose, Currency, Accuracy,
and Ease of Use.
Support Document for students:
Critical Eye on Your Sources
Questions
to Ask
Guided practice for students:
1. Pick any two sites from the links below.
2. What evidence can you find to determine the basis for claims made
on these pages?
3. How could you tell whether or not the information provided is
accurate?
Bogus Web
Sites, Site Examples
Student Assessment:
Evaluation of sources
- Who is the author of the Web site (a
person, an organization, or a company)?
- Is the author an expert on the
topic? To what extent does the author's occupation, years of
experience, position, or education make him/her an expert?
- What do you know about the provider
or sponsor (e.g. company, professional association) of the Web
site? Is this information easy to find on the Web site?
Examples
- Does the Web site sell, inform, or
try to persuade you of a certain point of view?
- Is it a commercial, governmental, or
educational institution Web site? Look at the URL or Web site
address for .com (commercial), .gov (governmental), .edu
(educational), .org (organization).
Examples
- Is the date of the last revision to
the Web site indicated?
- Are you able to find the exact date
of the content you plan to use?
- Are the links to other sites
up-to-date?
Examples
- Is the information based on facts or
opinions?
- Does the author provide any
supportive evidence for his/her statements?
- Are the sources listed for any
information presented as fact so that they can be looked for to
verify the facts?
Examples
- Is the Web site well organized? Can
you easily find what you're looking for?
- Does the site provide a way to
search all the pages for a particular topic?
- Does the site offer anything unique?
- Are the graphics clear and helpful?
Examples
Created by Dr. Elaine E. Buch, 9/09 |
