Evaluating Internet Resources

It is very easy to put information on the Internet. Almost anyone with an email address has that capability. But is that information reliable, accurate, truthful, or meaningful? Has it been researched? Or is it just someone's opinion? The following links contain information on evaluating Internet resources.

http://www2.widener.edu/Wolfgram-Memorial-Library/webevaluation/webeval.htm
This website provides materials to assist in teaching students how to evaluate the informational content of Web resources. It includes PowerPoint presentations and checklists that discuss the following:

• Advocacy Web Pages
• Business/Marketing Web Pages
• Informational Web Pages
• News Web Pages
• Personal Web Pages
• A lesson plan with links to example web pages is included. Printed copies of the materials are permitted for educational purposes.

http://library.albany.edu/internet/evaluate.html
This web page from the State University of New York at Albany library gives a checklist that addresses strategies for evaluating resources found on the Internet. The following points are considered --

• Purpose
• Source
• Content
• Style

http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/critical/index.htm
Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources, an article by Esther Grassian, UCLA College Library, includes information about evaluating --

• Content
• Source & Date
• Structure

http://www.classroom.com/edsoasis/evaluation.html
This website features student and teacher worksheets for evaluating web pages. The student worksheet is appropriate for the elementary school level.

http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/eval.html
This site, sponsored by the Discovery Channel School, includes a section with website evaluation forms for elementary, middle school and high school students. The site also features a number of links to other resources for website evaluation.