Is This for Real Determining Website Credibility

1
Is This for Real??? Determining Website
Credibility

• Rebecca L. Lucas
• Maryville College
• Rebecca.lucas_at_maryvillecollege.edu

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Should we question the credibility of
websites?
3
What factors contribute to credibility?
4
Should we evaluate web information more so
than print material?
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Purpose of Websites

• Informational
• Educational
• Persuasion
• Advocacy

• Business/Marketing
• News
• Personal
• Entertainment

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Why bother?

• Massive info available
• Students believe all web info is true
• Documents easily copied or falsified
• No editors proofing sites
• Accessibility

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Evaluation Criteria

• Authority
• Currency
• Accuracy
• Objectivity
• Content

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Authority

• Who or what organization is responsible for the
  content?
• Do you doubt the expertise of the author(s)?
• Is contact info available?
• Is the domain name credible for this source?

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Currency

• Can you identify when site was last updated?
• How important is current info for this source?
• When was this site created?

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Accuracy

• Is the information reliable?
• What is the purpose of the site?
• Is the information free of grammatical, spelling,
  and typographical errors?
• Are facts clearly referenced to the source?

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Objectivity

• Is there obvious bias presented?
• Why was the information written?
• Does the site showcase advertisements?
• Is the site an ad disguised as information?

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Content

• Is the information pertinent to your purpose?
• Is the content thorough and accurate?
• Can you verify facts easily?
• Is the purpose of the site obvious?

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Is This for Real??

• Choose one of the 3 websites. Determine
  credibility based on
• Authority
• Currency
• Accuracy
• Content
• Objectivity

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Conclusion

• Are there other evaluation criteria and/or
  questions that you think are important?
• What do you see as the most important criteria?
• What can you generalize about the sites that you
  evaluated more favorably?
• Did also try to evaluate the sites from a
  student's perspective?