Website Validity DOING QUALITY RESEARCH MR. ERFURTH, 2015
Website ValidityDOING QUALITY RESEARCH
MR. ERFURTH, 2015
Today’s Goal
Students can determine the validity and value of information they
find on the internet while researching.
Open Web vs. Paid Resources
Paid Resources
District-purchased
Curated
Valid for research
Peer-reviewed (in many cases)
The Open Web
Total free for all
Good? Bad?
Anyone can post anything
It can look real good, too
No guarantees about veracity of
information
The Open Web
Is how we end up with the #swagpigeon
Easy Clues
Trustworthy Website
A name you (and most people)
recognize
New York Times, TIME, History.com,
etc.
Well organized, shows a physical
address
Allows you to contact the people
behind the website
Needs More Verification
Has the same phrase repeated
throughout the page
Probably the search term you used
Tons of advertisements
URL is a bit shifty
Ex: cancer-treatment-
science.com, real-history.com
Wikipedia
SEO Traps
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization
Ways for companies to get their
websites at the top of Google
Doesn’t matter if they’re any good
http://www.contentmarketingspot
.com/search-engine-
optimization/what-does-an-seo-
consultant-do
How do I spot it? Repeated keywords
“The World War II civilians suffering from World War II invasions were often frustrated with their nations’ WWII militaries…”
URL with repeated keywords or hyphens
www.worldwarii-encyclopedia-stuff.com/world-war-ii/wwii/civilians
“You won’t believe what happened next!”
Clickbait/linkbait (example)
It’s easy to post
anything online.
It only costs about $10/year for the domain, then maybe $5/month for the hosting.
https://www.godaddy.com/domains/domain-name-search.aspx?ci=87929
Make your intelligence worth more
than a cheap website!
YOU DESERVE BETTER
“TLDs” (top level domains)
.com, .org, .net, .info, etc.
Anyone can register one of these
for nearly no cost at all
There is no checking by ICANN for
reputation before selling domains
Doubt everything you see! All the
time!
.edu, .gov, .mil
Strict requirements to get a
domain under .edu
Must be an educational institution
.gov is all United States
government
Other governments have their own
tld’s
.mil – only the US Military
Careful with pages with a ~
They’re user pages
Other TLDs
.it, .tv, .so, .at, .co.uk, .uk, .de…
all other countries. Varying requirements
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_top-
level_domains
“Ask” Websites
Yahoo Answers, Ask.com…
Really, guys?
Mostly people copying their
homework questions to get them
answered by people who don’t
know
https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/qu
estion/index?qid=20090506144607
AAlxf7F
Value of information?
Validity of information?
Especially Controversy!
For example, marijuana:
https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101231003312AAjZsht
Also, beware anything that says ‘studies suggest’
You’re victim to “confirmation bias” (aka “myside bias”) more often than you realize
In short – they’re worthless!
Evaluating a Site Directly
Who? What? Where?
Who made this website?
What organization is behind it?
Is it crazy uncle Ted, or is it the US
Navy? Check it out!
What is on the site?
Check out other articles
Nothing but articles about your
topic: bad news…
Where is it?
TLDs, country of origin
When? Why?
When was this page made?
Recent articles are more valuable
to research – knowledge changes
over time
If you can’t find a date… doubt
the page!
Why was the page made?
If it’s trying to convince you of
something, it’s biased
Don’t trust it – especially if it convinced you!
Beware the Search Bubble!Search Engines are
Designed to Give you What
you Want
If you (or someone on your
computer/browser/google
account) searches for mostly one
type of news, that’s what you’ll
find when you’re not searching for
it
Facebook does this too – you’ll
begin to think your viewpoint is the
only one because you can’t seem
to find the others!
“relevance” based on interest
rather than academic value
Search engines are advertising
tools, not research tools.
They’re pretty much our only
choice on the external web
Related TED Talk:
Eli Pariser, “Beware online ‘filter
bubbles’”
http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_paris
er_beware_online_filter_bubbles
Getting Our Hands Covered in HTML
A Case Study
Trying to learn about the Illuminati
Google!
“real illuminati story”
Several resources
http://people.virginia.edu/~sfr/enam481/groupa/illumhist.html
Messing with the URL
Delete parts of it – get to the
bottom of that page, whether they
gave you a link or not
Another Case Study (more
Illuminati)
Shady website
Had lots of information
Appeared legitimate
Many details, historical references, etc.
Domain whois
Revealed that the website was an elaborate advertisement
Made by the author of a book for sale on Amazon
Trustworthy Online Resources
First, obviously, the district paid
resources
Google Scholar
Good place to start, but you still
must be careful
Major Newspapers
Be aware of bias by authors and
institutions
History.com
Careful: mostly trying to get you to
watch their channel
Be aware of the show’s angle
PBS.com
JSTOR.org
Britannica.com
Find some of your own!
Spend the time searching NOW,
not when you have an assignment
due in two hours