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Evaluating Online Information: Criteria for Assessing Web Sources

Learn how to critically evaluate online information to determine its validity and reliability. This guide covers four essential criteria: authorship, currency, accuracy, and purpose. Discover how to assess the credibility of authors, identify the publication date, verify the accuracy of information, and understand the purpose behind web pages. Explore practical tips for conducting thorough evaluations and gain the skills necessary to discern valuable sources for your research, particularly in academic contexts.

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Evaluating Online Information: Criteria for Assessing Web Sources

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  1. Evaluating Online Information ENG 201 – Ibarra – Spring 2009

  2. Today you will learn how to… • Apply evaluative criteria to web sites in order to analyze the validity of the information contained within them. • Determine the probable accuracy of information on the web by questioning the source of the data.

  3. Web Page Evaluation Criteria 1. AUTHOR 2. CURRENCY 3. ACCURACY 4. PURPOSE

  4. Evaluation Criteria #1 Authorship

  5. Evaluation Criteria #1: Authorship • Know where to look for an author identification. • Evaluate the credentials of an author. • Distinguish sources of information by domain.

  6. Evaluation Criteria #1: Authorship How to Identify an Author: TIP! Right-click or ctrl +click to open these links in a new window or tab. “Bad Subjects: Have We Put it All Behind Us?” http://bad.eserver.org/issues/2004/71/churchill.html “Black Panther Political Art” http://cghs.dade.k12.fl.us/african-american/twentieth_century/panthers.htm “Black Panther Party” http://www.stanford.edu/~ccarson/articles/am_left.htm

  7. Evaluation Criteria #1: Authorship http://www.stanford.edu/~ccarson/articles/am_left.htm • http://is the protocol or access method • www.stanford.eduis the domain or host name • .eduis the top level domain • ~ccarson/articles/am_left.htm is the directory path folder on the domain computer

  8. Evaluation Criteria #1: Authorship • .com – commercial (for profit) entities • .org – nonprofit entities • .edu – educational institutions • .gov – federal government agencies • .mil – US military • .int – international organizations • State or Country of origin • .de - Germany • .ca.us – California, US • .ca - Canada

  9. Evaluation Criteria #1: Authorship What to look for: • Who is responsible for the site? • Do the authors have authority on the topic? • Is it a commercial, governmental, personal, or academic web site?

  10. Evaluation Criteria #2 Currency

  11. Evaluation Criteria #2: Currency Where to look for a source’s publication date: TIP! Right-click or ctrl +click to open these links in a new window or tab. “Bad Subjects: Have We Put it All Behind Us?” http://bad.eserver.org/issues/2004/71/churchill.html “Black Panther Party Political Art” http://cghs.dade.k12.fl.us/african-american/twentieth_century/panthers.htm “HIV and the Challenges Facing Men” http://www.undp.org/hiv/publications/issues/english/issue15e.htm

  12. Evaluation Criteria #3 Accuracy

  13. Evaluation Criteria #3: Accuracy What to look for: • Where did the authors find their information? http://www.ppu.org.uk/war/index.html (Peace Pledge Union) • Do the authors provide supportive evidence for their conclusions? Works cited or bibliography? http://www.undp.org/hiv/publications/issues/english/issue15e.htm(HIV & the Challenges Facing Men)

  14. Evaluation Criteria #4 Purpose

  15. Evaluation Criteria #4: Purpose Why was the web page created? • To sell? http://www.lifehealthsolutions.com/library3/disorders/hiv.htm (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome HIV/AIDS) • To inform?http://www.undp.org/hiv/publications/issues/english/issue15e.htm(HIV & the Challenges Facing Men) • To deceive?http://www.martinlutherking.org/(Martin Luther King Jr.)

  16. Evaluation Criteria #4: Purpose • Always look at the domain and home page • Search for an “about us” page • To uncover hoaxes: SNOPES: Urban Legends Reference Pages http://www.snopes.com

  17. Email Hoax? Hercules: The World’s Biggest Dog

  18. Review Evaluation Criteria • Authorship • Do the authors have training on the topic? • .com, .gov, .edu, .org site? • Currency • Is the site out of date for your topic? • Accuracy • Works cited or bibliography? • Purpose • Why was the web site created? • Is there an “about us” or “credits” section?

  19. Your Task: Find and Evaluate a Web Site on the Topic of Plagiarism • Divide into groups of 3-5 • Find a web page that discusses the topic of plagiarism. • Evaluate the web page based on the four evaluative criteria we just discussed in class. • Answer the question: Is this a good site to use for college-level research? Why or why not? • Answer the question: How effectively does this page use inductive reasoning? • Write one page summary of your findings and create a presentation to share with the class.

  20. A Couple of Search Tips… • Search for web pages within specific domains: Use the search command site:.edu or site:.gov to limit your search to educational or government web sites. • Search for specific document file types: Use the command filetype:pdf or filetype:doc to limit your search to Adobe PDF or Word files.

  21. Domain Search Example: “capital punishment” site:.edu

  22. Filetype Search Example: “capital punishment” filetype:pdf

  23. Use advanced search instead of search commands for the same result

  24. Combine the two commands Example: “capital punishment” site:.edu filetype:pdf

  25. Visit Rio Hondo Library for all your research needs! http://library.riohondo.edu/QUESTIONS? 562-908-3484 Shawna Hellenius – shawna.hellenius@riohondo.edu

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