INCO 48 Home > Section 6 > Evaluating Internet Sources Quiz

Section 6
Evaluating Internet Sources Quiz

Knowing the motive behind the page's creation can help you judge its content.

Who is the intended audience?____ Scholarly audience or experts ____General public or novices?
What does the site attempt to do?
If not stated, what do you think is the purpose of the site? Is the purpose to:

___Inform or Teach?
___Explain or Enlighten?
___Persuade?
___Sell a Product?

Objectivity

• Is the information covered fact, opinion, or propaganda?
• Is the author's point-of-view objective and impartial?
• Is the language free of emotion-rousing words and bias?
• Is the author affiliated with an organization?
• Does the author's affiliation with an institution or organization appear to bias the information?
• Does the content of the page have the official approval of the institution, organization, or company?

Accuracy

• Are the sources for factual information clearly listed so that the information can be verified?
• Is it clear who has the ultimate responsibility for the accuracy of the content of the material?
• Can you verify any of the information in independent sources or from your own knowledge?
• Has the information been reviewed or refereed?
• Is the information free of grammatical, spelling, or typographical errors?

Reliability and Credibility

• Why should anyone believe information from this site?
• Does the information appear to be valid and well-researched, or is it unsupported by evidence?
• Are quotes and other strong assertions backed by sources that you could check through other means?
• What institution (company, government, university, etc.) supports this information?
• If it is an institution, have you heard of it before? Can you find more information about it?
• Is there a non-Web equivalent of this material that would provide a way of verifying its legitimacy?

Currency

• If the information is of a current nature, is it kept up-to-date?
• Is there an indication of when the site was last updated?

Links

• Are links related to the topic and useful to the purpose of the site?
• Are links still current, or have they become dead ends?
• What kinds of sources are linked?
• Are the links evaluated or annotated in any way?

Note: The quality of Web pages linked to the original Web page may vary; therefore, you must always evaluate each Web site independently.

Conclusion

• Be very critical of any information you find on the Web and carefully examine each site.
• Web pages are susceptible to both accidental and deliberate alteration, and may move or disappear with no notice.
• Print out or download all pages you plan to use in your research so that your bibliography will be complete and accurate.
• Are you sure the Web is where you want to be? It may take an hour to find the answer to a question on the Web that would take a Reference Librarian two minutes to find. When in doubt, ask a Librarian!

Test your evaluation skills using the checklist above.

Write your responses to each question on this Section 6 Evaluating Internet Sources Quiz (pdf file) sheet and turn in to the TCI instructional aides or drop it by the Counseling Center. 

Which of these sites are legitimate sources of information?

1) Feline Reactions to Bearded Men -
http://www.improbable.com/airchives/classical/cat/cat.html (real internet link)
 

2) Dihydrogen Monoxide -
http://www.dhmo.org/  (real internet link)
 

3) The True but Little Known Facts about Women and Aids, with documentation -
http://147.129.226.1/library/research/AIDSFACTS.htm (real internet link)
 

Compare the following two sites. Ask yourself:

• Is the information covered fact, opinion, or propaganda?
• Is the author's point-of-view objective and impartial

4) Secondhand Smoke: The Big Lie -
http://www.jeremiahproject.com/smoke/corrupt.html (real internet link)
 

5) OncoLink -
http://oncolink.upenn.edu (real internet link)
 

Compare the following two sites. Ask yourself:

• Why should anyone believe information from this site?
• Is there a non-Web equivalent of this material that would provide a way of verifying its legitimacy?

6) Human Rights Watch, World Report 1999 on Tunisia -
http://www.hrw.org/hrw/worldreport99/mideast/tunisia.html (real internet link)
 

7) muslimedia: Assault on human rights in Tunisia -
http://www.muslimedia.com/archives/oaw99/tunis-hr.htm (real internet link)