Valid Internet Sources for Student Research Not all online sources are created equal. While there are scores of legitimate sources online – including whole encyclopedias and many scholarly journals, there are also many that are much less credible. When a student cites a Web site in a report, it’s important for teachers to know the difference between content written by a professional (who did proper research himself) and “crowd-sourced” content. Crowd sourcing is when information gets posted on the Internet by people who claim to know the facts. In many cases these writers get things wrong, pointing students down the wrong path. To help you stay a step ahead of your students, EducationWorld will update this article from time to time as new sites go online. Wikipedia: The biggest and most successful of all the crowd-sourced sites, Wikipedia.com is essentially an encyclopedia written by random people on the Internet. Validity: Wikipedia is not a proper source for citations or any real research. Yahoo!
Web Research Guide : Criteria for Evaluating Web Sites 1. Who wrote/published the information on the site? Because anyone can publish on the Web, it's important that you first identify the source—the author of the information on the site. Ask yourself: Who is the author/publisher? 2. The information you find on a Web site does not necessarily pass through the hands of editors, fact-checkers, or reviewers, so it's up to you to determine the value of the site's content and presentation. Content What is the site's purpose: to persuade, inform, or entertain? Navigation and Presentation Is the site well organized and easy to navigate? Continue
Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask 1. What can the URL tell you? Techniques for Web Evaluation : 1. 2. 2. 1. INSTRUCTIONS for Truncating back a URL: In the top Location Box, delete the end characters of the URL stopping just before each / (leave the slash). Continue this process, one slash (/) at a time, until you reach the first single / which is preceded by the domain name portion. 3. Check the date on all the pages on the site. 3. 1. What kinds of publications or sites are they? Are they real? 3. Expect a journal article, newspaper article, and some other publications that are recent to come from the original publisher IF the publication is available on the web. Look at the bottom of such articles for copyright information or permissions to reproduce. 4. 1. a. Type or paste the URL into alexa.com's search box. b. 1. The pages listed all contain one or more links to the page you are looking for. If you find no links, try a shorter portion of the URL, stopping after each /. 2. 5. 1. 2. WHY? More About Evaluating Web Sources
Helpful Hints to Help You Evaluate the Credibility of Web Resources Anyone, in theory, can publish on the Web; therefore, it is imperative for users of the Web to develop a critical eye to evaluate the credibility of Internet information. Searching for sources on the WWW involves using a search engine, a directory, or some combination of these two. Because there is so much information on the Web, good and bad, finding what you want is not an exact science and can be time consuming. According to Nicholas C. Developing a keen sense of the credibility of sources, based on such clues as connection of author to the subject, audience, source of publication, and documentation of supporting evidence, can also help you evaluate print and other types of sources. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Here are some types of Web sites: Personal Home Pages - maintained by individuals. Web sites serve different purposes.
Fake Spoof Websites social spoof sites historical spoof religious fake political fake sites Introduction to fake websites Librarians and educators need to be able to illustrate to students and users alike that websites cannot always be trusted to provide truthful and accurate data. This page provides examples of websites that are full of lies, inaccuracies or false information - either for amusement or for more worrying reasons. The list does not include phishing sites however; these are intended to fool a person into believing that they are visiting a legitimate bank site for example; there are already plenty of links to these online already. Fake websites - scientific and commercial All of the following websites are, to the best of my knowledge fake sites, spoof sites or parodies of 'real' sites. Sites are arranged in subject groupings, with what I consider to be the most credible examples at the top; hopefully this will help when you come to choose examples for yourself or students. This page contains examples of scientific and commercial sites. Social Dog Island Type: Social
10 tools to analyze your website Web analysis tools can be used to scrutinize various aspects of your site, in order to gather data for market research, and help to focus you on specific areas of the site. These tools might show you anything from traffic to age demographic, and are invaluable as a part of any Admin’s arsenal, especially since there are so many revolutionary ways nowadays to measure your site statistics, besides the traditional traffic numbers. The sites listed in this article are both free and paid-for, however offer a variety of different tools, some standard, some proprietary. Woorank The excellent Woorank provides an unparalleled service, with both it’s gorgeous interface, ease of use and sheer number of stats it gives you. What makes Woorank really special is its rating system, which it displays at the top of your stats page. Alexa For the demographic side of things, Alexa will tell you the age, education level, browsing location, gender and even whether they have children or not. Compete Piwik CrazyEgg
Fake websites, Spoof websites, science spoofs, commercial fake sites Introduction to fake websites Librarians and educators need to be able to illustrate to students and users alike that websites cannot always be trusted to provide truthful and accurate data. This page provides examples of websites that are full of lies, inaccuracies or false information - either for amusement or for more worrying reasons. The list does not include phishing sites however; these are intended to fool a person into believing that they are visiting a legitimate bank site for example; there are already plenty of links to these online already. Fake websites - scientific and commercial All of the following websites are, to the best of my knowledge fake sites, spoof sites or parodies of 'real' sites. Sites are arranged in subject groupings, with what I consider to be the most credible examples at the top; hopefully this will help when you come to choose examples for yourself or students. This page contains examples of scientific and commercial sites. Dihydrogen Monoxide Genochoice
Five criteria for evaluating Web pages - Atlantic Cape Accuracy of Web Documents Who wrote the page and can you contact him or her?What is the purpose of the document and why was it produced?Is this person qualified to write this document? For further information, please view the following Web site: MAVAV | Mothers Against Videogame Addiction and Violence Quality Criteria for Website Excellence - World Best Website Awards Quality Criteria for Website Excellence World Best Website Awards Websites are evaluated using a 100 factor scoring system. STAR 1 - Functionality (20%) Accessibility 001. breadth of browser compatibility 002. minimum & maximum monitor resolutions 003. plain text/HTML alternate entry paths 004. appeal to universal audience - multilingual translations, cultural sensitivity, disability access & services Speed & Bandwidth Sensitivity 005. overall page sizes & complexity 006. average download times 007. download order & image redraws 008. wait to first reaction/interaction times HTML Quality 009. clean HTML with no faulty code 010. workability of active x, rollovers, applets, etc. 011. page titles, descriptions, keywords & tags 012. Navigation & Links 013. navigation functionality & clarity 014. link integrity 015. quality & depth of links provided 016. external Vs internal link ratios for access to core information Legality STAR 2 - Design (20%) Graphic Design User Friendliness Aesthetics & Beauty
Save The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus Help Save The ENDANGERED From EXTINCTION! The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus Rare photo of the elusive tree octopus The Pacific Northwest tree octopus (Octopus paxarbolis) can be found in the temperate rainforests of the Olympic Peninsula on the west coast of North America. Their habitat lies on the Eastern side of the Olympic mountain range, adjacent to Hood Canal. An intelligent and inquisitive being (it has the largest brain-to-body ratio for any mollusk), the tree octopus explores its arboreal world by both touch and sight. Map of estimated tree octopus maximum range, including spawning waters Tree octopuses have eyesight comparable to humans. The reproductive cycle of the tree octopus is still linked to its roots in the waters of the Puget Sound from where it is thought to have originated. Why It's Endangered Tree Octopus hat from 1923(Click to enlarge.) The possibility of Pacific Northwest tree octopus extinction is not an unwarranted fear. How You Can Help More Tree Octopus Information
Teaching Our Students to Evaluate Websites Aug 31 2009 Need some help in teaching your students how to separate the good from the bad when they research topics on the web? One way, of course, is to limit the sites you'll allow them to use and the number of web references they're allowed to cite—perhaps the Library of Congress, the National Archives, a newspaper or two, and a historical society or association. But somewhere along the line, they need to learn to critically evaluate the seemingly limitless information they encounter online, whether it's for school or not. The following sites are a few that offer evaluative standards and materials helpful for the K-12 classroom. Rubrics, videos, and lists Educator Kathy Schrock maintains listings of websites for teachers to enhance curriculum and professional development at Discovery Education. YouTube videos summarize the key elements of website evaluation. Sometimes, there is no good website for a particular topic!
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