Get REAL: How to validate information on the Web 

Aim: How to Validate Information on the Web

Instructional Objectives Dissect a URL Examine a page’s content Investigate a website’s author and

owner

Get REAL

Step 1: Read the URL Step 2: Examine the content Step 3: Ask about the author and owner Step 4: Look at the links

Step 1: Read the URL Website ownership is not always

clear The URL can help Question 1: Do you recognize the

domain name?

windows.microsoft.com

Step 1: Read the URL Question 2: What is the extension in

the domain name? (.k12, .edu, .ac, .com, .org, .gov, .net, .mil) Red means danger.

In the 1980s, seven TLDs (.com, .edu, .gov, .int, .mil, .net, and .org) were created.

Domain names may be registered in three of these (.com, .net, and .org) without restriction.

Using Advanced Search Filtering your search results Task Number 1: Find 6 colleges in or

around Dallas that teach Engineering in 2 minutes

Task Number 2: Name 10 governmental agencies that have an interest in “Alaskan salmon spawning” in 3 minutes

Step 1: Read the URL Question 3: Are you on a personal

page? Personal pages are more likely to be

opinion based Look for clues

A person’s name Tilde (~) Percent sign (%) The words users, people or members

AKA “index”

Step 1: Read the URL Go to

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tressie-mcmillan-cottom/for-profit-colleges-kaplan-university_b_1205464.html

What value does this web page have for a report on “For-Profit Colleges?”

Step 1: Read the URL What should you expect from the

following URLs? www.nike.com www.si.edu www.sandiegozoo.org news.bbc.co.uk www.seaworld.com www.upeg.edu/~user

Step 2: Examine the Content Does the website agree with sources

you trust? Do other website agree? Look beyond the pictures and

graphics to the information below

Step 3: Ask about the author and owner Why was this website created? Is it controlled by a single person or a

governing body? What is the file extension? .edu

vs. .com Search for “Anatomy of a Frog”

Evaluate the websites before going to them Look for familiar domains Look for .edu and .gov

Step 4: Links

Good: Links to other sites you trust Bad: Links to pages by the same author

Open browser and search for tree octopus Where do the links at

www.zapatopi.net/treeoctopus lead you? Are there trustworthy links? Do they have

quality information? Do the links have the same domain name?