Download - Using The Internet Part 2 Evaluate
Taming the Beast
Using the InternetEfficiently & Effectively
Bad Site!
2. Separating the wheat from the chaff
Bad Site!
Believe it or not…This step is one of the keys to your entire
academic career.
Creative Commons Image by Luekk from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lenzkirch-Key.jpg
Employers want to hire people with the
ability to critically analyze information.
AuthorityBias
CurrencyCredibility
Scope
Bad Site!
Evaluation Vocabulary
MediaConstructCreative LanguageEmbedded
Five Core Concepts•All media messages are constructed.•Media messages are constructed using a creative language with its own rules.•Different people experience the same messages differently.•Media have embedded values and points of view.•Media messages are constructed to gain profit and/or power. Source: Center for Media Literacy (CML).
Bad Site!
From the CML MediaLit Kit:
Bad Site!
•Who wrote this? Can you find the name of the author?•Does this author have AUTHORITY? Are they BIASED?•Who published this? Is the author alone or affiliated with a larger
organization? What is the PURPOSE of that organization and this site?•When was this written? Does this information have CURRENCY?•Is this information CREDIBLE? Does it conform to what you already
know?•What is the SCOPE of information offered?
Is it general or in-depth?
Key Questions
Bad Site!
•Content – words, vocabulary, images, multi-media•“About” page – self-description of publisher•Style – banner, colors, logo•Domain – http://www.igoldrush.com/alt_ext2.htm •Links – sites this page links to•Organization – navigation, labeling, sections
Where to look for answers
Bad Site!
Evaluate these sites with the criteria just discussed. Which would you use in an assignment about the dangers of smoking?
The Challenge
1. http://www.lung.ca/protect-protegez/tobacco-tabagisme/facts-faits/index_e.php
2. http://www.smokingsection.com/issues1.html#smoke3. http://www.bupa.co.uk/health_information/html/healthy
_living/lifestyle/smoking/smoking_health.html4. http://quitsmoking.about.com/od/tobaccostatistics/a/tob
accofacts.htm
5. http://www.davehitt.com/facts/index.html6. http://myquitsmokingblog.com/
Bad Site!
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html
A comprehensive plan:
http://www.library.american.edu/tutorial/index_4.html http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/evalcrit.html
Step-by-step evaluation resources:
…but it’s so cute!
Even bad sites need a home.Sites which you deem to be •unauthoritative, •uncredible, •biased, or •lacking in currency
can still be used.
However, your evaluation and reasons for inclusion should be
explicitly stated!Creative Commons image by Sannse from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pug_black_600.jpg
Go on to the next step:
ASSESS