Website+Evaluation



Finding and using information on the Internet is completely different than searching for a book in the library. A book has the author, publisher's name and a copyright date for when it was written. Books are organized alphabetically and numerically by the Dewey Decimal system and author's last name.

 It isn't always clear to us whether a website is fiction or non-fiction, and we can't always trust what we find and read on the Internet. Anyone can be an author and pretend to be an expert on a topic when they are not.

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 * Use the following 4-step "REAL" process (by[| Alan November]) to help you decide whether a website is useful and trustworthy: **

[|Quality Information Checklist]

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= = > [|Make judgments based on what the URL tells you]
 * READ the URL: **
 * Do you recognize the domain name?
 * What is the extension in the domain name?
 * Are you on a personal page? (you may see a % or a ~ in the URL....)



Domains:
[|The Truth About Belgium] || [|Mayan Kids] || [|All About Explorers] [|Dog Island Free Forever] [|Dangers of Bread] [|Left-Handed Whoppers] [|The Continental Drift Cam] [|Facts About the Civil War] [|The Spaghetti Tree] [|Google Technology] || [|Science News for Kids] ||  [|Action on Smoking and Health] || [|PlanetQuest] [|energy KIDS] ||  || [|country codes] and additional domain names to explore ...........................................................
 * ** Domain: ** ||  || ** Reliability :** || ** Example :** || ** Non-Example :** ||
 * .net || network || Be careful! These can be unreliable. ||  || [|Save the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus]
 * .com || company || Be careful! These can be unreliable. || [|Animal Fact Guide]
 * .org || any organization || Be careful! These can be unreliable. ||  [|Kidshealth.org]
 * .mil || military || U.S. Dept. of Defense || [|Our Military Kids] ||  ||
 * .ac || academic institution ||  (outside of US ) || [|Who was Fibonacci?] ||  ||
 * .edu || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 95.04%;">education || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 95.04%;">Most Reliable || [|Animal Diversity Web] ||  ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 77.76%;"> .gov || <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 77.76%;"> government || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 95.04%;">Most Reliable || [|Kids.gov]


 * EXAMINE the Content: **
 * Is the information on the site helpful?
 * Does the site have more resources and links? Do the links work?
 * Is the site up to date? Can you tell when it was last updated?
 * Is the information correct?
 * Are the facts different from other sources you are familiar with?


 * Is the author's name on the site?
 * Is there a contact person or e-mail address?
 * Is their any information about the author?
 * Does the author know the topic well? Is he or she an expert?

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Forward Links:
 * LOOK at the links: **
 * What are the URL's of the forward links?
 * Do the domain names change?
 * Is the information biased?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Back Links:
 * Who is linked to the Web site?
 * Why are they linked?
 * What do other sites say about the information on the site?

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Who created and owns a website? Check the [|"Who Is"] site or the [|Alexa] site.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 100.672%;"> Search link: url in [|Google] to find back links from any site.

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">**Other Evaluation Forms:**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 93.6%;">[|Finding Good Sites] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 93.6%;"> [|Rating Websites] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 93.6%;"> [|Identifying High-Quality Sites] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 95.04%;"> [|Evaluation Checklist] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 95.04%;"> [|RWT Evaluation Form]

Get "REAL" website evaluation process from:
November, Alan. //Web Literacy for Educators//. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2008. Print.

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[|Otterbein College: Cave Canem-Beware of the Dog] [|Bogus Websites] [|Dillon District Two Resources] True or Hoax? [|10 Tips for Researching and Filtering Information]