YCCC: Using Google for College-Level Research: Test Your Web Evaluation Skills

Which One Would You Use?

Here are a few examples of some good and some questionable sites, can you tell which is which?

Stumped? Click on the word more for a discussion of each website.

http://www.epa.gov/
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This is the home page of the Environmental Protection Agency. Even if you are not familiar with the agency, you can tell from the domain name (.gov) in the URL that it is a government website. You can also learn more about the agency from the "About EPA" tab. Government websites are good sources for credible and up-to-date information.
http://www.dhmo.org/
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Although this one is a bit tricky, we encourage you to scroll down to the bottom of the page to see when the site was last updated and who authors it. When you look at this part of the screen, you will see the following "note: content veracity not implied." Since veracity = truthfulness, this alerts you to the fact that this is a joke/hoax website.
http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/
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OK, this one is kind of obvious if you know that there are no such things as tree octopus, but what if you didn't know this? Would you still use this site? Luckily, there are other clues that this is not a credible source: on the first page of the site, there is a picture of an octopus in a pine tree. Just from your background knowledge of octopi, you might think that this was an image that was digitally fixed. Rely on your knowledge of the world when you evaluate a web site. Further evidence of the site being a hoax were the "Cephalopod News" headlines and the support by GreenPeas.org (not GreenPeace).
http://allaboutexplorers.com/explorers/columbus/
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This website is designed to appear authentic and fairly well put together. While many of the facts are true or based on truth, many inaccuracies, lies, and absurdities are mixed in. Christopher Columbus surely did not die in 1906. If you were to compare this information on Christopher Columbus with that found in biography.com for example, you would come to the conclusion that "All About Explorers" is not a reliable site.
http://shakespeare.emory.edu/
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This website is a .edu site sponsored by the English Department at Emory University. You are encouraged to contact the author. The site also explains what it is trying to do and provides bibliographies of its sources. These criteria all point to a reliable source.

Compare These Sites

Try some of these exercises to practice your website evaluation skills:

Exercise 1

How would you evaluate this website: http://www.aim-digest.com/gateway/pages/women/articles/preg2.htm Hint: What happens if you delete everything after .com? What is the purpose of the group that publishes this website? Is this information biased in any way? What clues do you have that this is not a balanced, quality academic source?

Exercise 2 Compare these two websites: http://seagrant.uaf.edu/nosb/papers/2001/Gastineau-figs.html http://montereybay.noaa.gov/resourcepro/resmanissues/cruiseships.html Which is more credible? Why?

Exercise 3 Compare these two websites: http://www.consumerfreedom.com Center for Consumer Freedom http://www.consumerreports.org Consumer Reports Which is more credible? What factors helped you decide?

Exercise 4 Compare these two websites: http://www.factcheck.org Factcheck.org http://www.justfacts.com JustFacts.com Which is more credible? What factors helped you decide?

Exercise 5 Websites to Evaluate: Test Your Critical Thinking Skills from Lyndon State College. Compare the websites in each category, considering the criteria you've learned. Skip the first set. Which ones are appropriate to use for college assignments?

Which of the following websites would you use in an academic research paper? Why?

Aliens the Truth

Kepler and K2 Missions