Web Site Evaluation, Cultural Research

Cultural Research on the InternetWhat Web sites do you trust?

What Are We Looking For?

• Credibility

• Accuracy

• Bias/Objectivity

• Timeliness

• Relevance

CredibilityDo you trust the source

– Are they qualified?

– Can they be trusted?

– Will they stand behind the information?

O’Halloran, Thomas. Walter Cronkite on Television, 1976.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Walter_Cronkite_on_television_1976.jpg, Creative Commons License.

Credibility

Find out the person or organization that is responsible for the information. In this case – learn more about the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Credibility

Look for a Home page or “About Us” option. (Usually at top or bottom of the page.)

Credibility

Learn about the purpose of the organization and the web site. Make a decision – do you trust them, and are they qualified to provide the information that you’re seeking? (Yes – this site would be a trusted source of information on Quinceanera.)

Credibility

This is from a blog. Who is the writer (or writers), what are their qualifications, and can you trust them.

In this case, no information can be found about the owner of the Peppermint Paper blog. It is not considered a credible source.

Credibility

What about this Wikipedia article?…

Check the history of the article to see who wrote it…

Credibility

Recent contributors include Snowolf and FordPrefect42!

How would that look in your Works Cited list?

Purplegothicqueen. "Arctic Wolf". http://www.flickr.com/photos/purplegothicqueen/5273329499/sizes/z/in/photostream/ (Creative commons)

Credibility

Go directly to the source of the information!

But don’t forget to evaluate the quality of that source, too!

Credibility

What type of web site is it?. This is from the Library of Congress.

Government agencies are considered a credible source.

CredibilityAddress includes:

Example What is it? Credible?

.com or .net www.cnn.comwww.angelfire.com/~joespage

Commercial or personal web sites.

Depends on the web site . Learn about the person/group responsible

.gov www.epa.govwww.loc.gov

Government Agencies

Yes

.edu www.psu.eduwww.si.edu

Educational Institutions

Yes (usually)Beware of student web sites.

.org www.americanheart.orgwww.wikipedia.orgwww.martinlutherking.org

Organizations Learn about the organization, first. Anybody can get a “.org” address.

What does the web site’s address tell you?

Credibility

Use Google’s advanced search to find specific types of web sites. (.org, .gov)

Credibility

In this example, you will only have government web sites in your search results list.

Credibility – What do you think?

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/weddings/weddings.html

Credibility – What do you think?

What we know…

•Address is:

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/weddings/weddings.html

•Who (person or organization) runs the web site?

•Found this at bottom right:

•Could not find out who

Russ Haggerty was.

Credibility – What do you think?

http://dublin.usembassy.gov/service/other-citizen-services/other-citizen-services/marriage-in-ireland.html

Credibility – What do you think?

What we know…

•Address is: http://dublin.usembassy.gov/service/other-citizen-services/other-citizen-services/marriage-in-

ireland.html

•Who (person or organization) runs the web site?

•US Embassy

•Is the US Embassy a credible source?

CredibilityYou might need to dig for your information:

• Look for an About Us option.

• Go to the web page’s home page.

• Try modifying the address:

– If this is your web address: http://zapatopi.net/kelvin/kelvinmas/

– Take off the last “folder” or file so that it looks like this: http://zapatopi.net/kelvin/

– Repeat until you find information about originator! (http://zapatopi.net)

• Search the Internet for information about the person or organization.

Credibility

Creative commons license: “ Steiner, Peter. “On the internet, nobody knows you’re

a dog.” (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f8/Internet_dog.jpg)

Accuracy

Warning signs of doubtful accuracy:

• Do they provide references?

• Is the information consistent with other sources?

• Shocking (unbelievable) information?

• Professional appearance?

Accuracy

Some web sites provide false information as entertainment.

Accuracy

Some are Hoax web sites. They’re trying to fool you! (Maybe just for fun)

http://www.fvza.org/index.html

Accuracy

Professional appearance:•Easy or hard to read•Subtle use of color & graphics•Personal web pages•Advertisements

http://www.angelfire.com/mac/jelly/custom/trad.html

Bias/Objectivity

• Are all viewpoints covered?

• Fact or opinion?

• Purpose? To…

– Entertain

– Persuade or sell

– Inform

• Is it emotionally charged?

Bias / Objectivity

Two web sites with different opinions on an issue. •Both will probably give true information.•Both will provide opinions.

•Both will promote facts that support their view, and downplay or

not include facts that argue against their view.

http://www.protectmarriage.com/why-marriage-matters and http://www.marriageequality.org/

Bias / Objectivity

Two web sites about tattoos – one is a York Tattoo Parlor, one is a CDC “fact sheet”.What is the purpose of the tattoo parlor web page?What is the purpose of the CDC web page?Who is more likely to be biased?

Timeliness

• How old is the information?

• Can you tell how old it is?

• Could it be out-of date?

Timeliness

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_5347.html

If changing information is important, then the date of your web site is important, too!

Timeliness

http://www.arthistory.upenn.edu//zoser/zoser.html

If the information most likely has not changed recently, then the date published/written is less important.

Timeliness is important when the information changes rapidly. (The more rapid change – the more important timeliness is!)

• Technology

• Science

• Medicine

• News events

Timeliness

Timeliness – What do you think?

http://www.reviewsonline.com/articles/890244000.HTM

Would you rush out to buy this ultrafast laptop?

Timeliness – What do you think?

You’ve been craving some old-fashioned apple pie – but this recipe is over 15 years old! (Is that a problem?)

Relevance

• Audience – who is the web site intended for?

• Is it too detailed or too vague?

• Coverage – does it cover the correct time period or geographic area?

• Does it make sense to use this web page?

Relevance

For a college project about Botswana – would the Yahoo!Kids page or the CIA Factbook page be more relevant for your research?

If your child in the 4th grade were doing the research, which would be more relevant?

http://kids.yahoo.com/reference/world-factbook/country/bc--Botswana and https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-

factbook/geos/bc.html

Relevance

Which is a more relevant source for information on the Bar Mitzvah tradition? The Bar Mitzvah/Bat Mitzvah page at Judaism 101, or Larry’s Flickr photostream of his Bar Mitzvah?

http://www.jewfaq.org/barmitz.htm and

http://www.flickr.com/photos/maidelba/477727941/

What Are We Looking For?

• Credibility

• Accuracy

• Bias/Objectivity

• Timeliness

• Relevance