EVALUATING INFORMATION
RESOURCES:
WEB SITES
CIT 105
Fall 2012
Produced by the Bowling Green Technical College Library-in collaboration with CIT 105 Instructors
WHAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DO!
Topic and Search Strategy Formulation
3) Identify the characteristics of information resources.
Evaluation
10) Evaluate information gathered by such criteria as:
a) relevance/context
b) authority/validity/peer review process
c) currency, reliability/accuracy
d) point of view/bias
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Information Literacy Outcomes
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DISCLAIMER-MUST READ!
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The web sites used in this
presentation are for instructional
purposes and do not necessarily
reflect the beliefs or ideas of the
presenters or the Bowling Green
Technical College.
Users should be aware that they may
encounter potentially offensive
material at some sites.
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EVALUATING WEBSITES
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Public Part of Private Part of the
the Internet = Internet =
Fee-based
World Wide
Resources
Web =
(Library
Databases)
=
No Quality
Quality
Control
Control
Process
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What Criteria
Should Be Used
To Evaluate
A Web Site?
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What Are the Core Criteria for
Evaluating Information?
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C.O.A.R. system:
C: Currency
O: Objectivity(Point of View/Bias)
A: Authority
R: Reliability (Validity/Accuracy)
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CURRENCY
“PC Magazine” reports that Google “has an
uncanny knack for returning extremely relevant
results” and recognizes us as the search engine of
choice in the Top 100 Web Sites for 1998.”
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CURRENCY
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How can you
tell if a
web site is
current?
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When
was the web site created?
(Copyright Date)
was the web site or web page
last updated or revised?
Avoid using undated
web sites!
Are
there any broken links?
CURRENCY
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When
CURRENCY: THINK ABOUT YOUR TOPIC AND
For an art history
project it may not
be as important.
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WHETHER OR NOT IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE
CURRENT INFORMATION.
For a paper on computer
viruses it could be very
important.
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IS THIS WEBSITE CURRENT?
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Lasik @ Home
www.lasikathome.com
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OBJECTIVITY
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influence
WHAT IS BIAS?
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in an unfair way
a partiality that prevents
objective consideration of
an issue
prejudice
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Does
the content reflect a
bias?
the identity of the
author or sponsor of the
site suggest a bias?
Does
OBJECTIVITY
the bias impact on
the usefulness of the
information for your
research assignment?
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Does
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It is alright for a
web site to express
a point of view but
you need to be
aware of what it is
if you are going to
use the information
in a research paper.
OBJECTIVITY
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Is this web site objective?
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Example Topic: GUN CONTROL
http://www.bradycampaign.org/
YOUR TURN TO EVALUATE!
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AUTHORITY
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Who
it posted by a
reputable institution
or organization?
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Is
is the publisher?
Do
you recognize the
name of the author or
publisher?
AUTHORITY
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AUTHORITY
Is there a copyright
statement for the
web site?
Can you tell who has
authored individual
web pages?
Is there a tilde (~) in the
URL?
(~ indicates a personal
page on a website—
use with caution.)
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Look for an
‘ABOUT US’ link
for more
information and
to learn who is
behind the web
site!
Is contact information for
the author provided?
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Word of Caution:
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If you cannot easily
find out who is
authoring or sponsoring
a web site or a web
page, do not use it for
a college research
project.
AUTHORITY
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You be the judge!
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www.rythospital.com
AUTHORITY
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RELIABILITY
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Is
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the information
clear and easy to
follow for the
intended audience?
Are
the web pages
free of grammar and
spelling mistakes?
RELIABILITY
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FOLLOW SOME OF THE LINKS
ON A WEB SITE:
Do
they support the information on
the site of origin?
Do
these linked web sites appear
credible?
RELIABILITY
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Look for DOCUMENTATION!
 If
RELIABILITY
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the information is
presented as fact, are
the sources for the
facts documented?
 Can you easily tell what
sources are used?
 Are citations,
footnotes, references,
or a bibliography
included?
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YOUR TURN TO
EVALUATE WEB SITES!
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To appreciate the importance of web site
evaluation, compare these two web sites:
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Martin Luther King, Jr.: A True Historical
Examination
http://www.martinlutherking.org
The King Center
http://www.thekingcenter.org
WEB SITE EVALUATION
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Go to Google & type in the name:
 How
many results did you retrieve?
 Look
at the first page of results. Are the MLK web
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“Martin Luther King Jr”
sites you have just evaluated listed there?
 What
information do you find in the site’s
summary?
SEARCH ENGINE: GOOGLE
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Jun-16
Use the C.O.A.R. Criteria
to evaluate the
following web site:
Martin Luther King, Jr. Research
and Education Institute
This assignment is posted on
Blackboard.
ASSIGNMENT 1 (GRADED—20 POINTS)
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