You need to think about the sources you find on the Internet and evaluate them before using them in your reserach.
Using the attached “Web page evaluation” worksheet, evaluate two web sites:
2. A web site pertaining to your topic.
The World Wide Web can be a great place for information on many topics. However, it is important to remember that anyone can put information on the Web—it is unregulated, unmonitored, unchecked, unedited, and of widely differing reliability. Take for example, Wikipedia, known on the Internet as "the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit." The site's general disclaimer states that the site has no formal peer review and therefore the validity of the information found on Wikipedia cannot be guaranteed. Like this and many other websites on the Internet, it is important that YOU establish the validity, authorship, timeliness and integrity of the information you find.
To evaluate websites ask yourself these questions:
Techniques for Web Evaluation:
Read the URL carefully
What type of domain does it come from? Is the domain appropriate for the content?
Who published the page?
Scan the perimeter of the page
Is the page current?
What are the author’s credentials on this subject?
Look for indicators of quality information
Distinguish Web pages from pages found on the Web
Some information adapted from UC Berkeley Library-Teaching Library Internet Workshops: Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask
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