Internet 101/102: Untangling the Web

welcome | bibliography | glossary

I. How does it work?

II. What's really out there?

III. How can I search?

IV. Why should I evaluate?

V. How do I cite sources?

a. second-hand smoke | b. media bias | c. gender communication | d. hate crimes | e. Alzheimer

Why should I evaluate?

"Question Authority!"
--Timothy Leary

The great thing about the Internet is that everyone has a voice, and anyone with the access can publish. But...this means that the things that are available to us on the Internet are not always fact-checked or edited. So it's up to us to evaluate.

Pick one of the topics above (a-e)and critically evaluate each of the selected examples. See if you can answer each of the BOLDED questions below (using the questions in parentheses to help guide you.)

Evaluation worksheet

Who is the author?
(What credentials does the author/sponsor have? If an individual author is not named, is there a link to a "home page" to see who is sponsoring the page? )
What date was the information posted and/or updated?
(Is your topic time-sensitive so that you can only use the most updated information or is your topic more historically oriented?)
Are there any special features such as a "works cited" to back up the information?
(If there's not an actual "works cited," are there links to other pages? If yes, what kind of pages are they? Do these pages supplement the information given?)
What is the overall purpose and tone?
(Who is the intended audience? Check the domain name for clues (.edu, .org, .com, .mil, .net) to determine what type of page this might be. Is there an "about" or "what is" link from either the information page or the "home page" that outlines the purpose of the pages?)
What type of actual content are you getting?
(To what depth does the web site/page cover the topic? Does it seem to be a "surface" treatment? Can you really get a background overview, thorough coverage or an in-depth analysis of specific aspects for your topic?)

Things to consider...

You might want to compare information found on the Web with a information from a standard, more traditional research resource (encyclopedia, book or journal article) on your topic. Not only to fact-check, but to compare the depth and breadth of the information you're getting.
Try to find a review using tools such as the Internet Scout Project's Scout Report or CRL News: Internet Resources. If you found the site linked under a web directory, can you rely on the criteria set by those folks who collected the site? When in doubt, DOUBT!
Make the distinction between INFORMATION v. KNOWLEDGE...has the information being presented been widely accepted into the knowledge base of an academic discipline? Watch out for fallacies and false conclusions.