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scalesm   * Evaluating Search Results


You need to evaluate the information you collect

Evaluate the quantity of Information

Do I have enough information
if not, check your questions and go back - you may need to refine your search string
Should I think of new questions to help me dig deeper into what I need to know?

Evaluate the quality of Information

Does the information from the different sources agree or is there a problem with some of the information
How do I know a source is reliable?

Don't trust everything your read.
Anyone can post to the internet - how do you read it critically?
Look at the Details

How do you know if the information you get on the internet is valid?

Ask -


    * who wrote it
    * where does the site come from
    * when was it written and when was it last updated
    * what is the purpose of the site - for whom? what point of view?
    * why was the site written
    * how does the site look (obvious typos? easy navigation?)

21st Century Information Fluency: Evaluation Wizard Questions to ponder on author, publisher, objectivity, links from, date, accuracy, evidence and links to . The user fills in their answers and then has a summary. It says you can print - it did not work for me. But you can copy and paste it into a word-processing document.
Credible Sources Count An interactive tutorial to help understand how to evaluate web sites
WhoIs lets you find out where domains are registered
Link: Type link: and the web site address in the Google search window. You will get a list of sites that link to the site in question. This will give you an idea of the reliability of the site by looking at what kind of sites choose to link and how many sites choose to link.
Learn more from Media Awareness Network
  • available through LEARN for the English School Boards.
  • You need to log in with your LEARN username and password. This is a tool for learning more about evaluating sites
 Media Awareness Network: Reality Check
Media Awareness Network: Passport to the Internet
  • Passport to the Internet (cafe - looks at both e-mail and websites - clues to whether the site is to be trusted)
Hoax Sites There are a number of hoax sites you can go to with your class. Ask them to look at them and evaluate if the information is credible. What are the clues? Evaluate these sites with the criteria listed above.


Reading a web address

What does a URL tell you?

url

transfer protocol// domain name. suffix. country code/ where to find the file on the computer's directory. kind of file

Sometimes the address looks credible - it has.edu (a reputable education institution). However there is a ~ after the .edu
This leads to the personal site of someone at the educational institution - the information and opinions are those of the person not the institution. Make sure you back up that information (see triangulation).
 
 
 
Learn more.   pdf What is a URL.pdf

trianglesm ** Triangulation

Books have editors. Information from books is usually reliable (even there you have to check the source and read for bias).
Anyone can post to the internet.

Never trust just one source. Always make sure at least two other sources support the information - this is called triangulation. It is also a good idea to use different search engines for your search. This will give you a variety of sources.


* Photo:Vintage Kodak Studio Scales Set and Bottle, by Steve Harwood, adapted from Flickr licensed under Attribution Non-Commercial Generic License
** Photo:  Triangle by Alvaro, adapted from Flickr licensed under Attribution- Noncommercial - Share Alike 2.0 Generic.