Do you believe everything you read? “The largest repository of knowledge ever created is rapidly becoming the single finest source for getting.

Do you believeeverything you read?

“The largest repository of knowledge ever created

is rapidly becoming

the single finest source

for getting it wrong.”Keith Ferrell, former editor of Omni magazine.

78%

22%“…a survey of 1,693 students…found that 22 percent believed that 80-100 percent of what they found on the net was truthful.”

76%

24%

“In a national survey about news sources forEditor and Publisher (5/15/00), 76 percentof 550 regular Internet users said they couldlearn everything they needed to know fromthe net.”

51%49%

In the same survey, “51 percent said the Internethad the most accurate information.”

In the same survey, although “a majority of studentsmaintained that only 50-70 percent of what was onthe Internet was true, they lacked sufficient strategiesfor deciding what was true and what wasn’t.”

Block, Marylaine. "Gullible's Travels.” Library Journal, v127 i7 (April 15, 2002): S12(3).

Objectivity

What to look

for in websites:

•Accuracy

•Authority

•Timeliness

•Objectivity

Timeliness

Accuracy Authority

Accuracy

Are there quotes?

Are there spelling errors?

Are any graphs or charts clear and easy to interpret?

Accuracy NoYes Don’t know

Are sources cited? Is there a bibliography?

Is there an author?

Does the author have credentials?

Is an organization associated with the website?

Is there an “About Us” or “Contact Us” link?

Anyone can author a website? Who’s your author? A celestial navigator

or… ?

Authority NoYes Don’t know

Does the page list a creation date?

When was the site last updated?

Does the information seem to be out-of-date and therefore irrelevant and/or unreliable?

Are there links and do they work?

Currency NoYes Don’t know

Objectivity

Why is this information being provided?What is the domain? (.edu, .gov, .com, .org)

Is there advertising? Are they trying to sell you something?

Is someone trying to fool you? Is it a bogus website?

Might the author have a bias?

Click here to examine this

website.

Does the content seem to be factual or opinion?

Authority NoYes Don’t know

Click on screens to compare and evaluate these websites.

Click on screens to compare and evaluate these websites.

Where do you find material for a research paper?

scholarly full-text articles from online databases

booksencyclopedias/dictionaries

microfiche/microfilm

government documents

websites that provide accurate information

(.edu; .gov; .org)

reference books

25%

Articles in print journals

15%

Don’t be a fool!Don’t believe everything you read.

Question.Evaluate.

Think critically.

Evaluate websites.

A+

D-

Gullible's travels: Marylaine Block shows how to teach students to guard against misinformation, disinformation, and spin on the net. http://libraryjournal.reviewsnews.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA210719 [Block, Marylaine. "Gullible's travels: Marylaine Block shows how to teach students to guard against misinformation, disinformation, and spin on the net.” (cover story). Library Journal, v127 i7 (April 15, 2002): pS12(3)]

Microsoft Office. Design Gallery Live.http://dgl.microsoft.com/

Ferrell, Keith. “The largest repository of knowledge ever created is rapidly becoming theSingle finest source for getting in wrong.” US Airways Attache, February, 2003. pp. 54-55.

Created by Susan Metcalf and Jennifer Rudolph, Massasoit Community College, Spring 2003