When I was reading about basic search techniques back in Chapter 3, it mentioned that Chapter 13 was devoted to finding information on the Internet. Out of curiosity, I jumped to Chapter 13 and as I scanned over the information, there was a line that caught my attention. It said that Internet information must be treated as “guilty unless proven authoritative.” I didn’t have to read the entire chapter to find out that authority, reliability, and currency are major factors in evaluating websites.
After looking at a few different “How to Evaluate” sites, the one I liked—after careful evaluation, of course—was called “Guide to Evaluating Web Sites” (http://people.wcsu.edu/reitzj/res/evalweb.html). The first thing I noticed was there were no advertisements at all! The information was published solely for the purpose of educating people on how to determine the credibility and accuracy of a website. At the end of the information there was a person’s name, location, and e-mail address to send comments and/or concerns to. It also provided a date for when the site was last updated.
The author of this site provided information on criteria, techniques, and objectivity for evaluating websites. Then the part I really liked was that it provided samples of actual sites for the user to learn how to identify bias or hidden agendas. Sometimes taking an extra few minutes to really search a site, and not simply browse through it, can make a big difference in the information we choose to use.
4 comments:
I took a few moments to visit the site that you mentioned and I agree that it is good to take a few minutes to research the source of information on the web. But, I also think that just because an author has an agenda is not sufficient to dismiss everything that he or she has to say. Passion or commitment to a point of view are not necessarily a bad thing and we can't say that just because someone is trying to persuade the audience that the material is unreliable
I agree with you. You should always double check the source for information to make sure it is true. A person can be very passion about their point of view and it can all be true and reliable source of information.
I think the quote from the book "guilty unless proven authoritative" is a perfect way to approach doing your research solely on the internet. The sample sites on the website you provided really helped me to figure out what I needed to look for and focus on to decide if a website is credible and accurate enough to be used for research.
I very much agree with you. I do most of my research online and I do double check the resource and also use more than one resource. Anyone can write and post things online but it takes a dedicated person who has good intentions on helping educate other people to take the time and write the correct info.
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