Evaluating
Internet Web
Sources
Know what you’re using!
Knowing where you are starting
 .com
 .edu
 .int
 .gov
 .mil
 .net
 .org
 .uk,
 .k12
aug, ca
 Commercial
business
 Educational institution
 International organization
 Nonmilitary government
 Military organization
 Network
 Nonprofit or nonacademic
 Country codes
 School (student or teacher)
1. Authority of Author
 Is
the author clearly identified?
 Is the author an authority in the field? What
are the author’s credentials?
 Is there a way to contact the author?
 Email?
Phone? Address?
 Is
the author affiliated with a legitimate
organization (college/university, agency,
etc.)
 Is this information available?
 Usually
at the bottom of the site
 If not…this might be a clue
2. Currency of site and
information
Site:
 Does it give the date of last revision?
 Has it been recently updated?
 Are the links active? Are there dead links?
 Are there any references included? Are the
sources current?
Information:
 Is the information current?

This will be dependent on your topic (how old is too
old?)
3. Accuracy of Content
 Does
the information seem accurate,
according to what you already know?
 Does it seem to make sense with other
sources in mind?
 Are there any obvious biases (affiliation
with a biased group, etc.)
4. Purpose of the site
(Why does it exist?)
 Who
are the advertisers or sponsors?
 Is there a biased organization involved?
 Is there an “About” or FAQ page that
gives a mission or purpose statement
5. Other Considerations
(using your brain!)
 Spelling
and grammar errors
 Check for profanity
 Check URL


(dot what?)
“~” usually indicates a personal site
 Where
do the links go?
NO NOs (do it, and suffer)

NO wikipedia.com


Go to the bottom where it lists sources
NO msnencarta.com

You can edit these…if you can, anyone can
Destroys consistency (may not be the same tomorrow)
 Difficult to determine validity


Plagiarism

Keep track of where all your info comes from so you
can cite it (more on this exciting topic to come)
EasyWhoIs.com
 www.easywhois.com
 Get
rid of the extra symbols (/)
 Tells you all kinds of great information


Who the website is registered to
Put that in Google…and tada!
 Practice!
Do this for the website on the last slide
and see what you get
What’s out there
 Check

out this site
www.dhmo.org
 What
do you notice?
 Check this out

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4534017
 DHMO
is registered to Tom Way, a
professor in Delaware. It will take you to
his website, and he explains the idea
behind it there
 Try
this one
 http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus
 First
impressions?
 Check 1
 Easy
Who Is
 Registered
to Zapatopi
 Google: ad for monitoring who is on your site


these kinds of cookies and codes are often linked to
identity theft
Look again—he is a sociology major—an experiment?
 Check
2
 Check
3:Content
 Seems
 I’ve
fine
never hear of it…
Taking Notes
How to take and use notes
for this project
Now that you know what to
look for…
 How

many sources do you need?
You will need to use 5 sources in your paper
 That
means you will need to look at MORE
THAN 5 (this should NOT be hard)
 What

kind of sources do you need?
Need a variety of web-based sources
 Why
is it important to vary your sources?
Varying your sources

Primary Source: original materials that have not been
altered or distorted in any; way an artifact created in
the time of study; a document, a recording, or other
source of information that was created at the time
under study; an original source of information about
the topic


Secondary Source: is a document or recording that
related to information originally presented elsewhere


Interview, news article, statistics (like a census)
Commentary, editorial
Tertiary Source: an index and/or textual summary or
condensing of a primary or secondary source

Some examples of tertiary sources: almanacs, guide
books, surveys, timelines, encyclopedia
For your paper
 When
researching: Must find ONE of each
of these three sources to record on your
web log
 When writing: Must use at least TWO
different kinds in your paper

Not everything you research will be used in
your paper, but within the 5 sources you use
in the paper, there will need to be some
variety
Taking Notes
How should you take notes: as long as you can keep it
organized regarding what info came from which source,
the notes are for your use. Here are possible options:
 Note cards
 Copy/paste onto a document
 Hand write
 Print/highlight
 Problem/Solution chart
 Notes by guiding questions (more on this to come)
How will I check your notes:
Work logs: checked during work time
Annotated Bibliography
Annotated Bibliography
 What
is it?
Annotate: To provide critical commentary or
explanation
Bibliography: a list of sources used in the support of
research
 What does it look like?
Citations and a paragraph explanation
 What kind of notes will you need to get it done?
 Citation notes
 Author information
 The facts that you got from your source