How to Evaluate and Validate Information from the Internet

How Do I Know Stuff on the Internet is True?  
In this lesson, students will learn how to validate and evaluate a website. Today, anyone can create a webpage! It's free, easy and a useful way to get yourself heard and seen. As educators, it is critical that that we teach our students how to evaluate web content. 

Here are some important facts to keep in mind while you are sifting through websites to find information.

I.  What is the purpose of Web Site?  
Why did they put the information on the Internet? What is the web site trying to do? Why was it created? Does it:
• Sell things like services and products?  
• Try to entertain you?  
• Just present information or numbers?  
• Try to advocate ideas (to convince you, manipulate your mind or make you believe in a certain point of view)?  
• Have more than one purpose, such as entertaining you while trying to sell you things or convince you to believe in something?
II.  Who wrote the Web Site?  
Who is the author? Is it a group, an organization, an individual? Did someone write the web site but another group paid for it? Does the web site even tell who wrote it? 

Find out about the author's background using a search engine such  Check out this site for great hints on search tips:

What information can you find from the search about the author or group who put up the web site? 
• Is the person who wrote the web page an expert or an authority? 
• Has the person been to school to learn about the topic of the web page? 
• Do other experts on the subject agree that the author of the web page is an expert? 
• What credentials does the author have? 
• How do other people categorize the author or group? 
• What is said about them?  
• Is there anything controversial about them? If so, what is the controversy? 

III.  How can the web location or address to find out about the web site? (The location or address is the thing that begins with http://www.  The location or address is also called the URL. 

A. Some of the clues you will find at the end of an URL are:

B.  Use the URL to find out information about the site by going backwards to each file. 
For example: Copy and paste the following URL  
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level2/planet_hop.html
into the address or location of your web browser, you will see that it is a web site to find your age and weight on different planets.

If you go backwards in the URL and remove the last file,  
/planet_hop.html 
now  
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level2 should be in the address or location. The web page is now about information about the solar system.

If you continue to go backwards in the URL and remove the next file,  
/solar_system_level2 
now  
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild  should be in the address or location. The web page is now called "Star Child" and it is "A Learning Center for Young Astronomers".
If you continue to go backwards in the URL and remove the next file,  
/StarChild 
now  
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs should be in the address or location. The web page is now called "High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center" and as you see from the bottom of that web page, it is page of NASA, the space organization in a governmental (.gov) web site. The new link is now:http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/
So, in this web site,  the government through NASA is giving your information about the solar system.

IV.  Does the information you get from other web pages agree with the information on the web page you are wondering about?  
• Are their major disagreements? 
• If there are disagreements, what do most web pages say.  
• Does the information agree with other information you can get from books such as encyclopedia in the library, or from recognized good magazines.  

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Now it's your turn to evaluate a website

There is a lot of information out there about Global Warming. Is it fact or fiction? How can you tell? Here are two web sites with differing views. Based on what you've learned about how to authenticate a website, look through these 2 sites and give an evaluation.
In addition to this information, Virginia Tech has an excellent site that will help you with your evaluation. Go to VA TECH EVAL to access this information.
Click here to download  a website evaluation worksheet.(pdf)

Site #1: Global Warming

Site #2. EPA - Global Warming

If you have time, find 2 more sites about Global Warming and validate these sites.

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