There are ways to evaluate Web sites for their content and their credibility. Here are some steps you can take to evaluate information, whether it's for research for this class or for more personal uses.

Directions:

• Read over the following criteria for evaluating the information on Web sites.
• Complete the exercise at the very bottom of this page.
• Bring this information to class with you, and be prepared to share it with your class mates and instructor.

Step One: Take A Preliminary Overview

• Page display: Does the page display poorly? Are there any HTML coding errors? Are tags or other Web page coding visible?
• Spelling errors: Are there any spelling errors (or words that simply do not exist)?
• Grammatical errors: Are there any grammatical errors (or is the page poorly written)?
• Profanity: Is there use of profanity? If so, is it excessive?
• Page update: Is there any indication of when the page was created, updated, or posted to the Web?
• Contacts: Does the page include a contact, either for an individual or an official position (e.g., the "Webmaster")?
  

Step Two: Ask Yourself Questions About the Author

• Is he or she an amateur or a professional in the subject matter? What special knowledge or insight does the author claim, if any?
• Is the topic of the page or site in the author's professional field?
• Is the site informational, commercial, or both? (Does the page contain information, advertising, or both?)
  

Step Three: Check for Bias

• With what kind of individual(s) or group(s) is this site affiliated? Has the page been posted by any particular business, interest group, political party, or other organization? If not, is the author associated with any such group?
• What kind of language or terminology is used? Does the language smack of any ideologically extreme, racist, sexist, anti-"anybody" terms or other jargon?
• What visual images are utilized? Do the background images or other graphics display an overt bias?
• Are there any glaringly incorrect statements, citations, etc. ?

Tips for Finding the "Right Information" on the Web

Tip #1: Learn to recognize domain types

• .gov is U.S. government
• .mil is U.S. military
• .edu is an accredited post-secondary educational institution
• .com is a commercial, for-profit entity
• .org is a non-commercial, not-for-profit entity
• .net is a computer network, particularly an Internet-related network
• .int is an international organization
• .jp, .ru, .ca, .au, etc. are country identifiers

Tip #2: Search for authoritative sources

• Define what constitutes an "authoritative source" on the topic.
• Don't immediately turn on the computer! First think of organizations and institutions that may have relevant material; then check to see if they are on the Web themselves.
• Conduct a secondary search on unfamiliar organizations and/or authors of sites. Know the difference between a search engine and a directory:
  • Search Engines (a.k.a., spiders, robots) are computer programs that automatically catalog sites (e.g., Altavista, Northern Light, HotBot) .
  • Directories are listings of sites reviewed and compiled by people (e.g., Yahoo!) .
  • Use boolean searching techniques: Learn the operators "and," "or," etc. that expand or limit search criteria. Each search site offers a set of directions to help you search -- read them.
    

Your Assignment: Evaluate Web Pages

1. Visit the following sites (below) on the World Wide Web.
2. Use the answer sheet provided to you to judge the reliability and credibility of the content of the pages.
3. Bring the information you've gathered on the answer sheet to class. Be prepared to share your "Web site evaluation" with your class mates and instructor.

Your Government

These two Web sites may look extremely similar, but they are not the same. Check them for credibility and reliability, then fill in the answers on the answer sheet.

• Welcome to the White House
  at http://www.whitehouse.net
• Welcome to the White House
  at http://www.whitehouse.gov

These may or may not be reliable sources of information. Check them out and fill in the answers on the answer sheet.

• NRA
  http://www. nra.org/
• Flag-Burning
  http://www. esquilax. com/flag/
• GW Bush
  http://www. gwbush.com/

We created these materials - - please respect our ownership of them. This and all other pages on this World Wide Web site are copyright (©) 1999, 2000 by Debbie Twyman and Craig Whitney. Permission for non-commercial use of materials on this site may be obtained by contacting the owners via email at school, or via snail mail to them at NKCHS, 620 East 23rd Avenue, North Kansas City, MO 64116.