Evaluating
Credibility of
Sources
Lesson 7
Credible Sources
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Just because Google puts a result first does not
necessarily give it any credibility.
Think of it more as a popularity measure where
Google has done a lot of work to try to remove
the content that might be spurious or off topic.
So, the top pages will match closely with your
query topic, but that's not exactly the same as
credibility.
Credible Sources
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Certain terms carry a lot of political and
semantic freight with them. If, for example,
you do a search for something like
[obamacare], it implies a set of perspectives
on that topic.
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Credible Sources
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You could also compare terms to find out
about The Falkland Islands in South America. If
you use the term [Falklands] you’re gonna get
one set of results. If you use the terms
[Malvinas], you'll get a different set of results.
They refer to the same islands, but one is the
English term and the other one is the
Argentinian term.
Use Your Instincts
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Does this information seem unbelievable?
Does it make sense to you or others?
Does what you read conflict with something
you already know to be true?
Does the writing seem like it is grossly
exaggerated?
Is there a way to check this information out
so you know whether it is true or not?
COMPARE MULTIPLE SOURCES!!!!
Identify Credible Sources
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Does the writing seem too good to be true?
Who wrote this information
When was the article written?
Can the information be verified?
How might the tone or style of the writing
reflect its credibility?
Why does the author write this information?
Identify Credible Sources
There are other methods that are useful in
checking credibility:
1. Reading the web address
2. Time range
Identify Credible Sources
Reading the web address
Consider this fictional web address:
http://www.historywebsite.com/imperialism/panamacanal.html
Within this address there is a directory called imperialism,
pointing to a document called panamacanal.html. This address
is telling you something about the philosophical leanings of the
site. You know that this particular document about the Panama
Canal, which may have a generic title, such as "The History of
Panama," is actually coming from a particular perspective that
is signaled by the use of the word “imperialism” in the address.
Identify Credible Sources
Time Range
Another technique you can use to check and validate results is
checking the time range of a document.
For example, not long ago, this quote got a great bit of play on
the Internet because it was attributed to Martin Luther King:
“I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not
rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy.”
--attributed to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Did Dr. King really say this?
Identify Credible Sources
Let's start by searching for the quote:
[ "I mourn the loss of thousands of precious
lives” ].
Then let's restrict the time by using 1/1999 as
an ending date.
Identify Credible Sources
One of the challenges about doing web searches is
that there is so much data out there.
One of the problems with so much data out there is
that you will often get variant data; that is, different
versions of the same piece of information.
Even a simple fact might have some more subtlety
involved in it.
For example, compare the results for the
[circumference of the earth].
Identify Credible Sources
As you can see we get variant results. This is
because the circumference of the earth varies
depending on whether you measure around
the equator or around the poles. If you are not
aware of that, you might believe that the earth
is a perfect sphere and that a single number is
a perfect description of its circumference. In
reality, it’s very close to a perfect sphere, but
there is variation.
Identify Credible Sources
Quotes are typically very hard to verify; it is difficult
to determine who they originally came from, and
how they evolved over time. Often, quotes are
attributed to people that didn't really say them, or
repeated incorrectly.
The phrase "Elementary, my dear Watson," is
often thought to have been said by Sherlock
Holmes somewhere in the works of Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle.
Identify Credible Sources
You can use books feature to figure out what's
going on.
• Search for [Sherlock Holmes complete] in
Books.
• Use the search box on the left to search for
["elementary my dear watson"]
Identify Credible Sources
Just as you can get information about a site by
looking through pages on the site itself,
sometimes you need to find out information
about the site as a whole. There are many
techniques for doing this, but one to know
about is called "WHOIS.
"
Identify Credible Sources
WHOIS is a large database of information about
websites. It's held by the people who run the
networks, and it allows you to get information
about websites. Many providers give access to the
information in WHOIS. Search for [whois] and
choose whichever one you like—the amount of
information may vary, so it makes sense to check
out a few and pick one.
Try Internic or Whois.sc and search zagat.com
Identify Credible Sources
Check the assignments page for a link to the
worksheet checking your understanding of
how determine the credibility of sources.
Source for Presentation
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Google Search Education
http://www.google.com/insidesearch/searcheducation/lessons.html