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Teaching and Learning |
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Evaluating WWW Sources
The Web
is an electronic repository for books, data collections, encyclopedias,
libraries, and any disparate piece of text, graphic, or sound byte that
someone chose to put on-line. And some of it is inaccurate, biased,
out-of-date, shallow, and inappropriate for academic use.
Quoted from:
Lida Larsen--Information Literacy, The Web is not an Encyclopedia
http://www.inform.umd.edu/LibInfo/literacy
Ask These Questions
- Authority
- Who is the author of the page? Can you identify their qualifications for providing this information?
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Accuracy
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Are the sources of factual information easy to verify? Is the information itself verifiable from another source?
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Objectivity
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Are there biases of opinion in the material, and are they clearly stated?
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Currency
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Are there dates on the page that indicate when the page was written? Are there some indications that the information is kept current?
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Coverage
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How complete is the information on the page? Is there an indication that the material is complete, and not "under construction"? Are there links to other information sources from this page?
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Other Considerations
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Permanence--is the information likely to STAY up for a reasonable amount of time?
Purpose--is the information there to serve as a vehicle for advertisements?
Origin--is the page from an educational institution, the government, or a non-profit organization?
Internet Evaluation Resources
Thinking
Critically About World Wide Web Resources.
http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/critical/index.htm
