Week 6

Lecture;
Evaluation and authentication are the two key steps to finding decent information off the Internet. To find a reliable site there are other things you must take into account. For example, the type of site, .com (commercial), .org(organisation), .fghrewkhf(random letters will normally be spam). An organisation website will normally have bias information because they are trying to support one side of something, that's what organisations are about. So you should never rely on these sites when you want both opinions. 90% of the time they will only speak of one side.

You should also look for an Author or Editor. Usually at the bottom of the web page there will be a full name with the editor or author of some sort, some sites may not have one mentioned but if so it's best advised to then run that name into a search engine and find some background info on that person, so you can be certain they are a professional or academic and not a bias person.

The date is a very important matter in web searching, sometimes you could be reading an article and think it was a great source but then find somewhere on the page it was last edited in 1995, that would be no good if it was a subject that's changed over that time. So you must always identify the date and time the site was last edited or proofed.

If the site contains a Sponsor that is another excellent source of finding the authenticity of a site. If you find a sponsor you should immediately search them and determine whether they have a good reputation and are they reputable? This will also allow you to find out how reliable the site information will be.

Activities;
The Site http://www.ithaca.edu/library/training/think.html evaluates how to use the Internet. The first strategy explains why the web was originally created and how it is used today. It suggests you should make sure you are using the appropriate site and that the Internet is the best way of getting the information you’re looking for.

The second strategy suggests that you should be skeptical of what you read on the Internet. Don’t necessarily trust what is written and always look for other sites to check that the source is credible.

The third strategy talks about finding out whether an author of a source is credible. It explains how to search for an author on a site such as explaining things like truncating the URL to find out who created the site.

The fourth is to see who put their money into the site, who set it up, who sponsored it and what it is talking about. Since money talks, you have to make sure it is not biased and make sure it has documentation such as citations or a link. If there isn’t you should probably not use the site for research.

Fifthly, make sure the website has good grammar and spelling, has good facts and sources and check when it was last revised. Don’t always pay attention to the graphics; it may just be a gimmick to look pretty.

Finally it suggests you make sure the website is a website rather than a magazine or article, as the site says “distinguish web pages from pages found on the Web.”It also suggests the criteria of authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency, coverage and value.