Evaluating Sources
Readings
  • American Library Association and Association for Educational Communications and Technology. (1998)  Information Power: The Nine Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning. [Online]. Available http://www.ala.org/aasl/ip_nine.html.
Evaluating Sources
Finding good information on the Web requires the same kind of evaluation skills that finding good information from more traditional sources requires. The big difference between sources on the Web and paper-based sources is that the production costs are so much lower and the publishing access for the the Web is so much easier. Don't be swayed by professional looking graphics and layouts. 

There are five criteria that have been used to rate the usefulness of particular information for many years. 

  • accuracy
    		•  Is the information accurate?
  • authority
    		•  Is the author of the web page clearly stated and does he or she have a credible background to write on the topic? 
  • objectivity
    		•  Does the author represent a particular point of view? 
  • currency
    		•  When was the web page last updated? 
  • coverage
    		•  Does the site cover all aspects of the given topic? 

    In most cases, students will have to be helped to answer these questions.   A common searching scenario is this: an individual types in a keyword in AltaVista, gets many million hits, and then accepts the first site blindly.  To see some of the potential pitfalls, take a look at The Good, the Bad and the Ugly or Why It's a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Sources.

    Student Evaluation Forms

    In order to help students evaluate sites, several people have developed forms and processes for students to use as they do their research. 

    Evaluating Web Sites: Criteria and Tools is a nice collection of resources especially for older students. Evaluating Web Resources has a good set of resources for applying the 5 criteria to different types of pages.

    (Update 9/18/03 -- this resource may no longer be available) Evaluating Web Sites is a wonderful compilation of resources, including both articles and ready to use forms for teachers and students.  Take a special look at the variety of resources at the bottom of the page. As you view them be alert to the age of these pages. Some of the characteristics that were important in the early days of the Web are no longer as relevant, such as download speed or technical reviews.

    As you review pages and tools, you'll probably notice that earlier articles and forms require students to make judgments on the technical and aesthetic qualities of the pages. While some of this is useful, especially if your students are going to create their own pages, the Web is now so pervasive it is important to have students really focus on the quality of the content using the five criteria discussed earlier, rather than on the quality of the delivery.

    Citing Resources

    Of course, once students use resources on the Web to complete assignments, they will need to give proper citation to the authors. Formats for citing various types of Internet resources have been developed over the past few years. A good authority for this is The Columbia Guide to Online Style by Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor.

    There are two excellent online tools that allow students to enter all of the needed information and receive their citation in correct MLA or APA format.
    Plagiarism

    As your students have undoubtedly already found out, the Web is a rich source of ready-to-turn-in materials. Fortunately, there are a number of sites to help teachers both teach about plagiarism and combat it.

    Their Side

    Internet Paper Mills
    compiled by Kimbel Library at Coastal Carolina University


    Our Side

    TurnItIn.com Eve2
    Plagiarism.org Students and the Internet
    Related Assignments
    1. Evaluation of sites -- DO THIS WITH A PARTNER!

      On The Good, the Bad and the Ugly or Why It's a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Sources, choose Examples. Take a look at any one of the sets of web pages. These are the types of pages your students would find if they used a search engine to find information for a project or report by looking up keywords.

      For the set you choose, explain which pages are useful sources on the topic and how you decided. Of course, some of the pages will be out of range for your students, so concentrate on the quality of the information and sources using the criteria listed in this module. Remember to use all the criteria for each of the sites. (One trick you'll find useful in checking a site is tracing back the URL to find the true source of information, as described on page 43 of your text.) It's also useful to think about the assignment this way: You've assigned your students to do research on the chosen topic. They have searched and want to use these sites as resources as they write their papers. Would you accept the site? If so, why? If not, how would you explain (using the criteria) that this site is a poor choice for this purpose? (If you don't usually teach students that would write papers, imagine that your students are middle school or older.)

      Create and publish a single web page with your conclusions, providing links to each of the reviewed pages. Remember to include a summary for the entire set to explain which resources would be accepted as credible sources. Link this page to each person's assignments page as well. Submit the URL for your page to the appropriate thread in the Discussion Forum.


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