Week 6: Evaluation & Authenication

Lecture Summary
This week's lecture was about evaluating and checking the authenticity of internet sources. This can be done by checking the url (uniform resource locater) is it a .gov?, .edu? And things like when was it last updated? On the internet you have to evaluate your sources carefully as anyone can put up a webpage. The lecture also included a brief background of the internet as to how it came about.

Tutorial summary
In today's tutorial we learned some evaluating strategies to research better and to cite better sources.

Workshop Tasks
Evaluating strategies
The ICYouSee Critical Thinking Webpage

http://www.ithaca.edu/library/training/think6.html
1. Not everything is on the internet. And does the site even cover the topic you are researching? Look out for sites with more credible authors, check to see if they have some background in the topic.
2.Anyone can publish a website, check for bias, reasoning. If you are not sure that the information is accurate, compare it with other sources. If available check the site's bibliographical links to sources.
3. Find out the authors credentials, check their background in the topic to decide whether they are a good source.Check the domain name--this can be either .edu or .gov or .org
4. Whats the purpose of the website, who is the site intended for? If there is quotes or statistics, there should be citations, if there aren't any, don't use the website for your research.
5. Look out for spelling and grammar. What is the depth of the material? It is technical or just some basic and brief information? Look for a last updated date and check for any links to other sources.If available, check out the ABOUT page.
6. Today there are a lot more sources to use on the internet other than just pages on the web. Online books and periodical articles and journals can now be found on the web. You can now subscribe to online libraries. Giving you 24/7 access to a large range of sources. When using periodical journals , make sure that they are peer-reviewed or that they are scholar journals or articles.

"Reliving the sixties: a Website Evaluation Assignment" Assignment
1. American Cultural History 1960-1969
Accuracy: it has call numbers to books available in the library, including many links to other sites
Authorship: This site is from the library of Kingwood College
Purpose:A range of topics such as architecture, film and tv, education and literature to provide the reader with a good coverage of each topic
Detail: Provides a lot of detail about each topic, with links for further reading.
Design: A number of pictures available , in each section.

2. Psychedelic 60's
Accuracy: Last updated January 2008
Authorship: Created by University of Virginia
Purpose: A number of events such as Woodstock and the Vietnam War.
Detail: Very detailed information.
Design: Lots of pictures with captions.