View this presentation to learn how to critically evaluate internet sources and determine the validity of websites.

1. Evaluating Internet Resources MUH 3016: History of Jazz

3. Accuracy

4. Audience

5. Objectivity

7. gov - local, state, or federal government http://usa.gov

8. org - organizational use http://consumersunion.org

9. com - commercial use http://www.apple.com

12. The webmaster is responsible for loading the content and maintaining the integrity of the website. Is the author qualified to write the page? Are the author’s credentials listed? Is contact information for the author available?

13. Audience/Purpose Is the purpose of the site clearly stated? Is the site appropriate to the intended audience – university/research? Is the primary purpose of the site educational and informational? Is the site provided at no charge? Are links from the site maintained, evaluated, and filtered for quality?

14. Objectivity Why was this page written and for whom? Does this page inform, give facts, or give data? Does this site explain the issue or try to persuade? Is it a mask for advertising – does it sell or entice? Does it share information? If so, for what purpose? Does it disclose information? If so, is it the author’s opinion? Is documentation included to support any claims made? Point of view / bias Is the website unbiased? Is the web page a parody or a satire? Is bias is desirable in this context?

15. Currency Is the Information on the Web Page Current? Is there a copyright date on the page? http://www.lib.usf.edu University of South Florida Libraries: Fostering the Advancement of Knowledge© Copyright 2009 Is there a date indicating when the page was last updated? http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/evalcrit.html Last updated: April 27, 2009 Are the links on the page current? Not Found The requested URL /Curriculum/Validate/ was not found on this server. Apache/1.3.41 Server at www.cdli.ca Port 80

17. Accuracy

18. Audience

19. Objectivity

21. Additional Evaluation Sources Johns Hopkins University http://www.library.jhu.edu/researchhelp/general/evaluating/ Cornell University http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/webeval.html Ithaca College http://www.ithaca.edu/library/training/think.html University of California - Berkeley http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html New Mexico State University http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/evalcrit.html Georgetown University http://library.georgetown.edu/internet/eval.htm

23. Archives: http://scout.wisc.edu/Archives/index.php