Evaluating Websites

Frances MichaelsSchool LibrarianPrince William County VirginiaOctober, 2007with credit also to: Kennetta Russ, NBCT and Beth Jespersen, Loudon County Virginia

“searching the Web is easy– finding what

you’re looking for is the hard part.”

Chris Sherman

Think about it…

“I found it on the

INTERNET --

it MUST be TRUE!”

Bogus Websites: or Why Evaluate

Internet Sources?

Website: ????????????

“The United States Civil War.”

www.idiotica.com/encyclopedia/content/civilwar.htm

Can you spot problems with the text?

Protect yourself from misinformation!

Always EVALUATE sources

-- and double check facts!

Use the five W’s to evaluate.

Who is responsible for the site? What is the purpose of the site? When was the page created and

last updated? Where can you verify the

information? Why would you use or not use this

site for research?

http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/

If you search Google for “octopus”

you will find this website.

How to get better search results with Google -

add the word “site:” (with colon) followed by the domain you

want to searchadd .edu (usually reliable)add .gov (usually reliable)

The Giant Octopus Web PageThe Giant Octopus Web Page

Octopus’ Garden website

Now you try it… Use the five W’s to evaluate two

websites One will be a “bogus” website (links

provided) One will be a reliable website you

find