Part One:
Selecting & Using Search Engines
Search engines are not all created equal.
- They don't cover the same information because they gather web sites differently.
- They don't work the same way because they're written by different programmers.
- They don't provide the same types of links because they have different audiences in mind.
Compare:
no Boolean searching "quote marks" for phrase searching
organized by hierarchies results less categorized
Example 2.
Compare:
can limit to types of files results categorized into folders
can limit to specific timeframe focus on fee-based service and business and news info
Example 3.
Compare:
very comprehensive can ask questions in natural language
results ranked by quality results can vary widely in accuracy and usefulness
For links to more search engines, see the following:
Part Two:
Evaluating Internet Sources
The freedom of the Internet is one reason why it's so popular. It's also the main reason why user evaluation of sites is very important.
Anyone can post anything on the Web. Information may range from true, false, biased, or uninformed to good-intentioned but still wrong.
There is usually no filtering of the content of information found on the Internet, unlike the filtering or selection processes that take place by magazine publishers, book editors, or library collection committees.
It is left to the user to determine the validity of Internet sources.
There are many ways to evaluate a web site. Three of the most important features to consider are:
Authority Content Audience/Objectivity
Authority: Who's responsible for the page content? Are there any clues about that person's qualifications?
Content:< Does it seem accurate? If you don't know much about the topic yet, consider these other questions. Are there citations to other works? Has the page been updated recently? Are there facts you could try to verify?
Audience/Objectivity: Who designed it? And for whom? Is there obvious (or not so obvious) bias? Is the page nothing more than a marketing tool? What level of audience is it designed for (e.g. children, adults, students, professionals)?
For more information about web evaluation, see:
Evaluation of Information Sources (Virtual Library)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Consider the Following Sites:
Are the following legitimate scientific sites?
Remember that the Web is an open publishing medium for everyone. Look at the following sites to discover how the same design is used to deliver two very different sets of information.
Martin Luther King Center-- the current site
Martin Luther King Center -- the former site
Martin Luther King -- A Historical Examination
Evaluation Examples:
1. Take a look at these sites and evaluate their overall quality, paying particular attention to authority, content and audience. Use the questions above as a guide. Which would be most useful for research for a paper on epilepsy? Why?
2. Compare these sites, focusing on the criteria of audience and objectivity. 3. Which of the following webpages would you choose to cite in a paper? Why?
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