Why Evaluate Websites?
You need to be critical—even suspicious—when searching for information on the Internet, also called the “Free Web.” To learn why, read the facts below.
"Lesson 12: Reviews." Lesson 12: Reviews. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. <http://www.edison.edu/library/researchskills/Unit9/1websites.php>.
- Practice Click Restraint
- Use Wikipedia Wisely
- Follow the Money - is the source or subject of the source sponsored? do they contribute to another source? are there private interests?
adapted from :KQED
Can the author be trusted? |
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Who is the author?
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0 Cannot find an author |
1 Unknown organization or name |
2 Author is expert on this topic or organization is expert on this topic |
Am I able to find out more about the author? |
0 No contact information given |
1 Email address given |
2 Email address and mailing address given |
What is the purpose of this site? |
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Can I tell the purpose of the site from the domain? |
0 The url ends in .com or contains a ~(which means it might be a personal site) |
1 The url ends in a domain I don’t recognize |
2 The url ends in .edu, .org, or .gov |
Does the site contain advertising? |
0 The site is full of advertisements |
1 The site contains advertisements, but it is easy to tell between ads and content |
2 The site does not contain any advertisements |
Is this site up to date? |
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When was the site last revised?
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0 Cannot find a date |
1 More than one year ago |
2 Less than one year ago |
Do the links work?
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0 Many dead links |
1 One or two dead links |
2 All links work |
Is this a good site for students your age? |
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Is the text readable?
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0 Can’t read it - technical language meant for experts OR Lots of spelling and grammatical errors |
1 Can read some parts, but difficult
|
2 Can read it all and no spelling or grammatical errors |
Is there useful information for students? |
0 Few parts of the site seem useful for students |
1 Some of the site seems useful for students |
2 Most of the site seems useful for students |
TOTAL EACH COLUMN |
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TOTAL SCORE FOR ALL THREE COLUMNS:_____________
RATING THE WEBSITE:
A SCORE OF 12-16 DEFINITELY USE THIS SITE, it’s an excellent source of information for a student!
A SCORE OF 7-11 USE THIS SITE WITH CAUTION and compare it to other sites on the same topic first.
A SCORE OF 0-6 DO NOT USE THIS SITE, it cannot be trusted and is not a good source of information for a student!
Adapted from http://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/3-5-library-ratingwebsites.pdf