How Can You Determine if a Site is Reliable?

google search

Introduction

The internet contains millions of pages and sites that contain information on just about every topic you can imagine. When it's time to write a research paper, many of us now start with a web search engine. Try typing in "cancer" in a search engine and see how many sites are available that address the topic. There will be thousands. The problem is, not every web site contains reliable, unbiased information. With the development of the internet, a medium became available for anyone to post information that can be accessed by anyone on the globe. You could easily make a website yourself about anything you wanted. No one would check to see if the information you posted was accurate. So, how does a person know whether to trust the information found on websites? In this quest you are going to create an list offactors that can help a person sort out the information found on the internet.

Task

You will construct a list and ranking chart that will be used by you and others to determine the reliability of websites. Then you will use your list to judge a set of web addresses to determine which are the hoax sites and which are the real sites.

Process

1. Go to "How to Evaluate Web Resources" and read criteria used for determining the reliability of a website. Create a list from this criteria that can be used as a handy reference guide. Your list should include at least 6 things to look for on a site.

2. Now use your list to examine the following sites. In each grouping there is only ONE site that is the "real" site. The others are hoax sites, or sites of dubious information, or even satire.

Make a chart for each section where you identify the real website. Then write a short description of each that explains why you identified them as hoax websites or valid websites.

Rescue - Which one is a rescue or play area for dogs?

Site 1: The Dog Island
Site 2: Costa Rican Rescue Ranch

Genetics - Which page gives real information about genetics?

Site1: Genochoice
Site 2: Learn Genetics
Site 3: Furnetics

Products - Which one would you give your money to?

Site1: Buy Dehydrated Water
Site 2: Pets or Food
Site 3: Jeffers Pet

Endangered Animals - Which animal is really endangered?

Site 1: Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus
Site 2: Australia Thorny Devil
Site 3: Save the Rennets

Medications - Which one is real?

Site 1: Havidol
Site 2: Horizant

News Sites: Which on of these is satire?

Site 1: Huffington Post
Site 2: The Onion

**You must turn in the following items

Grading

Poor ( 0 pts )Unsatisfactory (3 pt)Good (4 pts)Excellent (5 pts)
Number of items Less than 2 2-3 items 4-5 items 6 or more
Quality of itemsLists will not likely result in an accurate analysis of websiteSome items on the list are appropriate for analyzing websitesItems, as a whole can be used to evaluate websites, list is missing some minor areas that would help determine website reliabilityItems as a whole can be used to evaluate website for reliability. Good degree of accuracy and covers all major points
Identified real websites0-1 Websites identified correctly2-3 websites identified correctly 4 -5 websites identified correctly All websites identified correctly
ReasoningNot includedReasons invalid, too much reliance on intuitive reasons without giving much concrete criteria for choicesReasons mostly valid, some reliance on "intuitive" reasons, but concrete criteria are given in most casesReasons given for ruling out hoax websites are valid within the context of evaluating websites, though some can be intuitively ruled out, you should include tangible reasons for ruling pages out