The Codex of Business Writing Software for Real-World Solutions 2.pptx
Week 5 online only
1. Week 5 - Online
EVALUTATION! & Internet Databases!
2. Quick Review
What is a primary source?
What is a popular source?
What is a scholarly source?
3. Quick Review
What is a primary source?
An “original” source like a diary, or letter
What is a popular source?
A magazine or newspaper
What is a scholarly source?
Written by experts, peer-reviewed
Hint: You will want to know these things for the final exam!!
4. Website Evaluation
What? Evaluation =
critically thinking
about a source
Why?
Reasons to Evaluate web sources:
Anyone can publish anything!
It’s hard to tell who the real author is
There are NO web standards
Do you trust what this guy has to say?
7. Website Evaluation
CURRENCY
When was the site created?
When was it last updated?
Is it regularly maintained?
Is the information cited new,
or outdated?
Look for this information at
the top and bottom of the
website! Dates can be hard to
spot.
8. Website Evaluation
RELEVANCY
Does the site pertain to your
topic?
Does it contain information
you would expect it to?
Relevancy is easy to spot.
Skim the article. Does it relate
to you topic? If not – move on.
9. Website Evaluation
Accuracy
Are there grammatical or
spelling errors?
Is there an editor?
Can the information be
verified? (& are sources cited?)
Accuracy can be hard to determine if you are
researching a topic you know nothing about!
Look for other signs like spelling errors and
broken links.
10. Website Evaluation
Authority
Who is the author?
What are the author’s
credentials?
Who is the publisher?
What is the author’s affiliation?
ALWAYS look at the About Us section of a
website. That’s where you’ll find these juicy
details!
11. Website Evaluation
Purpose
Why does this site exist?
Is it biased?
Are there lots of
advertisements?
If the website wants your money, stay away!
12. Website Evaluation
Other things...
What is the URL ending?
Check out pages 123-124 of the book
ANYONE can buy a .com, .net, or .org
Who is the intended audience?
You’re a college student. Don’t use sources
written for 5th graders or for Doctors
Trust your gut!
13. Website Evaluation
Side bar: Wikipedia Michael Scott
POLL: explains
What do you like
about Wikipedia? Wikipedia
The gang from
But….
What’s the problem
30 Rock
with Wikipedia? demonstrate
the problem
Where does it fail with
the CRAAP test? Wikipedia in
two steps.
Remember, this guy, our Evaluation Mascot, could be (Click underlined
one of the authors! words to view
videos)
14. Website Evaluation
Wikipedia fails the AUTHORITY test
(and sometimes, the Accuracy test)
It fails the AUTHORITY test because
you don’t know who wrote it! All you
see is a person’s user name. Let’s take
a look:
15. Website Evaluation
On any Wikipedia entry, there is a view
history tab. You can click on it to see any
recent changes to the page.
16. Website Evaluation
Just this month, there have been over 20 changes to
the “Dog” page!
Do we trust what username “Bob0the0mighty” has to
say about dogs?
17. Training: Website Evaluation
Convenient
Fast
New
information
LOTS of great
information out
there – you just
have to find it in
the sea of crap.
18. Homework for the Week
1.Learning Activity – Some more internet
searching! This activity has you hunting
for facts on various internet websites.
Next week, we begin researching in
databases, and these websites help us
transition
2.Research Assignment – Apply your new
evaluation skills to 3 of the website you
found in weeks 3 & 4. Do they pass the
test?
Notes de l'éditeur
If google is so great, why do these all exist?
If google is so great, why do these all exist?
Evaluation is thinking critically about a source. Just because it’s a top result on Google doesn’t mean it’s good! Make sure things are good enough for you! You do this all the time. Do you believe things just because you hear them? When someone posts something on Facebook do you automatically believe it? Use the same skeptism in your research.Why? On the web, anyone can publish anything! It can be very hard to tell who the real author is, and there are no standards or publishing process to ensure accuracy.
Evaluation is thinking critically about a source. Just because it’s a top result on Google doesn’t mean it’s good! Make sure things are good enough for you! You do this all the time. Do you believe things just because you hear them? When someone posts something on Facebook do you automatically believe it? Use the same skeptism in your research.Why? On the web, anyone can publish anything! It can be very hard to tell who the real author is, and there are no standards or publishing process to ensure accuracy.
This guy is our Evaluation mascot. Use the CRAAP test to figure him out! Currency, Relevancy, Accuracy Authority, Purpose.
Currency: Look for dates. Not just one date, but several. When was the site created? Updated? Is it regularly maintained? Does it cite sources? Are those new or outdated? Relevancy: Does it pertain to your topic? Does it contain what you would expect? Do the links take you to places that are useful? Are the links broken? What does this page offer that isn’t available anywhere else? How in-Depth is the information?
Currency: Look for dates. Not just one date, but several. When was the site created? Updated? Is it regularly maintained? Does it cite sources? Are those new or outdated? Relevancy: Does it pertain to your topic? Does it contain what you would expect? Do the links take you to places that are useful? Are the links broken? What does this page offer that isn’t available anywhere else? How in-Depth is the information?
Accuracy – How can you tell if something is accurate if you don’t know much about the topic? Look for grammatical or spelling errors. Is there an editor? Can the information be veriftied? Does it make sense? How does it look? Authority: Who is the author and what are the author’s credentials? AKA – what is the proof that this person is not a whack job. Who is the publsher? What is the author’s affiliation?
Accuracy – How can you tell if something is accurate if you don’t know much about the topic? Look for grammatical or spelling errors. Is there an editor? Can the information be veriftied? Does it make sense? How does it look? Authority: Who is the author and what are the author’s credentials? AKA – what is the proof that this person is not a whack job. Who is the publsher? What is the author’s affiliation?
Accuracy – How can you tell if something is accurate if you don’t know much about the topic? Look for grammatical or spelling errors. Is there an editor? Can the information be veriftied? Does it make sense? How does it look? Authority: Who is the author and what are the author’s credentials? AKA – what is the proof that this person is not a whack job. Who is the publsher? What is the author’s affiliation?
Accuracy – How can you tell if something is accurate if you don’t know much about the topic? Look for grammatical or spelling errors. Is there an editor? Can the information be veriftied? Does it make sense? How does it look? Authority: Who is the author and what are the author’s credentials? AKA – what is the proof that this person is not a whack job. Who is the publsher? What is the author’s affiliation?
Wikipedia. Actually go to wikipedia and show them the discussion section.
Wikipedia. Actually go to wikipedia and show them the discussion section.
Wikipedia. Actually go to wikipedia and show them the discussion section.
Wikipedia. Actually go to wikipedia and show them the discussion section.
