This lecture talks about the evaluation and authentication of web materials. Firstly, it stated that data that is "fit for use", can be appropriate for one person but completely inappropriate for another. Further, it states that the web is an open protocol which mean that anyone with a computer can access it in the comfort of their own home. Furthermore, the information on the web bypass filters which ensure the quality and validity of materials. There are a few key problems associated with the web, these include: No control of who and what is published on the web, currency and reliabilityof materials. The web was developed from ARPANET with it's purpose being connectivity, access, retrieval and sending of data. back then, there was little concern about the network security. Quality of web materials are not always assured. When evaluating a source, consider the following: Credibility; Accuracy; Reasonableness; Support. Finally when evaluating a web, you need to consider whether, it is "a personal page or site", "Domain name appropriate for the content "?"Published by an entity that makes sense"
http://www.taftcollege.edu/newTC/Academic/INCO48/sec6-4.htm, or the
Good, the Bad and the Ugly webpage
http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/eval.html. After visiting ICYouSee Critical Thinking page, the list of strategies which i derived on evaluating information on webpages include:
- Ensure you are in the correct location:
- When unsure:
- Think about the source:
- Take into account what is taking place:
- View the content:
- "Distinguish web pages from pages found on the web"
I have decided to compare these strategies to that found on the INCO 48 webpage. Inco 48 webpage had a number of strategies. Firstly, it stated that you must look closely at the domain name to discover the publishing body. Some examples of domain are:
.com :a commercial business, organization, or company
.edu :an educational institution
.int :an international organization
.gov :a nonmilitary government entity
.mil :a military organization
.net :other organizations: nonprofit, nonacademic
.uk, .au, ca, jp, etc. :country codes denoting servers found in other countries
The webpage also state that you must consider the purpose of the webpage, i.e. was it to sell products or does the the author present an agenda. In addition, you must check for currency of the page, as regularly updated pages have high reputation. Finally, when evaluating web resources, you must consider the "Ten C's". These include:
Content:
The purpose of the article e.g. is it serious or is it of a comedic nature.
Credibility:
Does the author have any qualification or life experience on the topic in which he/she wrote the article?
Critical Thinking:
Can you identify the author, publisher or edition, as you would with other "traditional" resources.
Copyright:
You must recognize that someone created it even if it's not stated.
Citation:
The resources must be cited thus; identifying source used and give author credibility.
Continuity:
Is the site regularly updated?
Censorship:
Do you have a "moderated discussion list?"
Connectivity:
What sort of connection does the user require and also can multi-user connect to it at busy times.
Comparability:
Does the source have a comparable print?
Context:
Does your research require you to find opinion and narrative or does it require statistics.
More, after visiting the ICYouSee website, i was required to complete the "Reliving the Sixties: a Web Site Evaluation Assignment". I must evaluate two websites under these evaluatuion criteria: ACCURACY ~ AUTHORSHIP ~PURPOSE ~ DETAIL AND DESIGN ~ OVERALL WORTH.
Website 1: American cultural history 1960-1969
Accuracy: The content within this website, appear relatively accurate. To ensure that the content were in fact accurate, i visited various other websites to see any similarities to this website.
Authorship: Lone star college Kingswood library appear as a credible source. After looking at the entented references list, it is true to say that this is a credible source.
Purpose: The main purpose of this website is to inform users about the hsitory of America in particular, from 1960 to 1969.
Detail and design: The website shows extensive coverage of the history of American culture, ranging from fashion to arts. In addition, it is designed in a manner that visual aid is used to give a clearer view. Also, heading and subheadings are used to guide the readers.
Overall worth: Overall, i think that the content is relatively extensive and meets it's purpose. More, it was designed in a manner that, its productive rather than distractive.
Website 2:The Sixties Project
ACCURACY: Once again, this is another website which appear to be very accurate. After reading the information, I found that there are no contradiction between what I already knew about the sixties and, what is said on this website.
AUTHORSHIP: As meantioned before, this source appear very accurate but on the contrary, the author's credibility is questionable as he is not very well known. Likewise, I tried to look up for information under his name but without seccess.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this website is mainly to present topic related to the sixties. It contain both scholar journals and peoples view and stories about the sixties. Above all, they aim to provide routes of collaboration and make available primary and secondary sources for researchers, students, teachers, writers and librarians interested in the Sixties.
DETAIL AND DESIGN: This website has a very wide coverage of the sixties ranging from history to political science. In addition, it is designed in a very logical manner. There is constant use of headings and subheadings to guide the readers. Moreover , there is a usage of simple colours and not animations which can overshadow the main purpose of the website.
OVERALL WORTH: I think that this site is relatively good as the there was extensive coverage and also, good design which is conductive to it's purpose. Nevertheless, this website was last updated in 1999 which make's me question both the accuracy and the reliability of this source.
This week's session has allowed me to put into practice, the procedures which one may take to evaluate a website. As a result, future research will be conducted with a high level of awareness about credible and non credible informations found on the web.
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