When you evaluate a source for accuracy, you should ask yourself one important question:
Can I verify this information in sources I already know to be trustworthy?
| Example |
|
The following is the homepage of the Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division. This is a hoax website about the dangers of DHMO, also known as water. Because the site looks professional and uses lots of technical jargon, it is sometimes mistaken for a real site. There are a few indicators that this site's information is not trustworthy. One major clue to the nature of the website is a disclaimer near the copyright notice at the bottom of the homepage: "Note: Content veracity not implied." Another hint is the "research" section of the site. All the research projects took place in high schools, and were in fact experiments designed to see how many students believed the DHMO danger was real. No other authors are listed; all information on DHMO comes from within the site. Most good research sites cite other sources with related information. Another step you might take to find out whether or not the information is legitimate is to look up DHMO on sites you know to be legitimate and authoritative. In this case, we might try the Environmental Protection Agency or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Searching for "Dihydrogen Monoxide" on these sites yields no results concerning the dangers of DHMO. |
The DHMO site is an example of a site with purposely misleading information. Most webpages with inaccurate information are not this extreme, but include inaccuracies out of carelessness or ignorance. In order to weed out these sites, try verifying key facts in sources you know to be trustworthy. If you cannot find any outside information that corroborates research on a particular site, you should probably avoid using that resource for your assignment.
Some of the examples in this guide come from the book Web Literacy for Educators, by Alan November. This title is an excellent resource not only for teachers but for anyone hoping to improve their online research skills. Please click the link below to check availability.
