Internet Evaluation
Jane Long
MLIS, University of Oklahoma
MA, English, Wright State University
Reference Services Librarian
Al Harris Library
jane.long@swosu.edu
Step 1: Authority
• Web Pages
– Credentials/Qualifications/Reputation
– Who is responsible for content?
• Webmaster?
• Web team?
• Organization?
• Institution?
• Company?
Step 2: Accuracy
• Web Pages
– Can the information be verified?
• Links to credible sites
• Copyright
• Works Cited
• Fact check with a printed source
Step 3: Objectivity
Biased or Objective?
• Sponsoring Organization
• Agendas
• Political Propaganda
• Web hosting
Do you trust the author or organization
providing the information
Step 4: Currency
• Web Pages
– When was it created and last updated?
• Well maintained web sites have an indication
when it was last updated or modified
• Accessibility
– Dead links
• Stability
– Changes URLs frequently
Internet Evaluation Worksheet
• Open this link for your instructions
• The next slide provides links to the
sites you will be using for your
evaluation.
Exercise: Evaluation Handout
• Institute for Historical Review
– http://www.ihr.org/
• Pinehearst Inc.
– http://pinehearstresearch.com/index.shtml
• Southern Poverty Law Center
– http://splcenter.org/index.jsp
• Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
– http://www.deloitte.com/
• Harry Ransom Center
– http://www.hrc.utexas.edu
• American University for the Humanities
– http://www.auh.edu/
Remember the Value of Alexa
Known for providing
information on web traffic
• Larry Page & Sergey Brin/ Grad Students
1998
• Mission: "to organize the world's information
and make it universally accessible and
useful.“
• 2009: 20 billion dollar corporation
Google: A Tool like any other
Site Specific Command
What it does: searches only specific domains
What to type: nursing jobs site:edu
nursing jobs site:com
nursing jobs site:org
• Google Scholar provides a simple way
to search for scholarly literature. The
search crosses many disciplines and
sources--peer-reviewed papers, theses,
books, abstracts and articles--from
academic publishers, professional
societies, preprint repositories,
universities and other scholarly
organizations.
Google Scholar
• Works best for Citations
• Restrictions to Content
– Now included in SWOSU’s list of
databases
– We’re working on improving access
– Example: Greening Community Resources
Check for Objectivity: News
Sites on the Web
• Christian Science Monitor www.csmonitor.com
• USA Today - www.usatoday.com
• British Broadcasting Company (BBC) http://news.bbc.co.uk/
• Washington Post www.washingtonpost.com
• Slate - www.slate.com
Questions?
 Contact

me:
Jane Long
• 774-3030
• jane.long@swosu.edu
• http://faculty.swosu.edu/jane.long/
• To help us improve our instruction please take the
following survey at the end of today's class—
January 28, 2010: Click here to take the survey
Thanks!