Week Six

LECTURE

This weeks lecture was about the evaluation and authentication of information found on the internet. When searching for information on the internet, it is crucial to understand that is no owner or moderator of the entire internet, and just because information is online, doesn't make it valid or reliable.

There are small clues which can help you to evaluate the authenticity of a website. It is also important to consider the URL, because a '.com' can be owned by anyone, and a '.gov' is a government website. These are important clues to identify how reliable a website is. Also check to see if the information is up to date. Information generally looses relevance as time passes, and look up the author to check if they are credible.

It is important to remember that there is little control of who publishes information, why it is published and what is published on the internet.

There are also several issues with the accuracy, authority and currency of the information found on the internet. The problems stem from two root causes:

» There are no rules as to who can publish information on the internet.
- There is not always someone to check the accuracy of the information.
- Not always web standards to ensure accuracy.

» Publication dates are not always included.
- Information may not always be relevant.

» Sponsorship isn't always indicated.
- Check who the sponsor is.
- Check how reputable the sponsor is.
- Check for information about the sponsor and/or author.

This week there were two workshop activities. Firstly, we were asked to summarise the website ICYouSee.

There are five main steps on evaluating the authenticity of a website, as listed on ICYouSee.

» Make sure you are in the right place.
Make sure that the website you are on and the information you are reading addresses your topic.

» When in doubt, doubt.
Because almost anyone can put up almost anything on the Web, not everything on the Internet is factual.

» Consider the source.
It is important to take into account two things: the author and the URL. The URL generally gives a general indication of who wrote the article. Check to see if there is background information on the author.

» Know what's happening.
Why was the site produced? Consider it's purpose, and whether it was created to sell you something, persuade or inform you.

» Look at the details.
Check to see when the page was last updated, and if the website is organised with working links.

WORKSHOP ACTIVITIES

Finally, we were required to evaluate two websites using the criteria and websites found here. The websites chosen were Kingwood College Library and University of Virginia.

» Kingwood College Library



This website appears to be a good source of information, mainly because it is an library website, and has an 'educational' domain name.The website was last updated in December 2006, not long ago, and it is clearly visible at the bottom of the page. The author is Susan Godwin, and an email address is provided to contact her through. All this is clearly visible towards the bottom of the page. All the hyperlinks on the website are relevant, and it seems this website was created for educational purpose There seems to be no bias or opinions that are strongly conveyed through this webpage and thus, it appears even more reliable.

» University of Virginia



This website is also being displayed on an educational domain. The page was last updated only a few days ago, and there is very good reason to believe that the information is credible and accurate. The website was selected for various awards such as 'Site of the Week' on many websites, and was developed by several authors, whom are all contactable through the library homepage. It is more of an insight to the 60's era than facts and statistics, but it all seems reliable. The website presents facts without bias and slanting, and was designed purely for educational purposes.