By Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.
If you have been tricked into thinking that a spoof site is for real, or that the information you are reading on a conspiracy website is accurate, you're not alone. Figuring out whether or not the information you're finding on the Internet is reliable can be very challenging.
Here are a few steps to follow to evaluate online sources.
Let's start with a few questions. We'll review information and then will return to more questions, so be sure to keep these in mind.
What kind of website is it?
Who are the authors?
Do they have an agenda?
I’m listing categories of information, and am indicating the general reliability. The problem is, most websites are a combination or blend.
Informational: These can be news sources, online journals, magazines, educational, online copies of books and monographs. The sites could be sponsored by governmental agencies, major publishing houses, and think tanks. The entity publishing and supporting the website could be corporate, and there could be a great deal of editorial oversight. Thus, the reliability level could be quite high. On the other end of the spectrum, a web source could be a parody site such as theonion.com or the online equivalent of spoof interview such as Da Ali G Show.
Opinion: If one looks closely, almost all websites are opinion sites and contain bias, at least to some degree. It is important to determine the opinion and “politics” of the site and to understand to what degree it colors the information contained in the website.
Entertainment: Some entertainment sites can be good sources of information, even though they are not intended to be journals or repositories of scholarly articles. It depends on the topic of the essay or research, and whether or not the information presented is reliable.
Key Questions to ask:
x---When was the information on the website written (or posted)?
x---Who wrote the article? If the author is corporate, what is the name of the organization or entity?
x---How was the article written?
--A wiki? A wiki is collaborative and ongoing. It is important to mention the date the information was accessed.
--A weblog? What kind of blog is it? What is the purpose of the blog? What does the blog author hope to accomplish with the publication?
x---Is there a hidden (or not so hidden) agenda? How can you tell? What kinds of words are used to describe people or things? Are there political issues?
x---Are there commercial agendas? Is it attempting to sway your opinion in order to make a purchase? Are there sponsored links and ads to the point that you wonder whether or not the information may be biased?
x---What kind of depth and breadth do the articles have? Are they original with this website, or are they reprinted from another site or a central source?
After going through …be sure to quote.
Rule of thumb – 90% your own words and only 10% other people’s words -- cited sources. Avoid paraphrasing and plot summaries.
[Listen to the companion podcast at:
http://community.elearners.com/blogs/inside_elearning/attachment/836.ashx 1.7 MB]
Watch Susan on online libraries! (Lots of wind-noise, but it's authentic!)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1108851485022805150&q=e-learning+elements