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Bodies from the Ice: Melting Glaciers & the Recovery of the Past

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Analyzing an Internet Website

 

    

 

One of the biggest problems with the Internet is knowing when to trust a website's information. Obviously, some well-known big-business websites bring an air of credibility to the information they post (though this can occasionally be misleading). But most sites that children and adults visit do not have this surface credibility. For this reason, I am publishing this page, which offers some guidelines for analyzing a website. It is intended for middle school and high school students, as well as teachers and librarians who can adapt it for use with students. Keep in mind, however, that most websites fail to meet these standards (because many webmasters don't follow any set guidelines)...so how do you decide whether to trust a website?

Analyzing the Trustworthiness of a Website

1. Author

  • Who is the author of the web site?

  • What information does the author provide about herself/himself?

  • What qualifications does the person have to write on this topic?

  • Can you tell if the person is real?

  • WHAT CONCLUSION DID YOU REACH ABOUT THE AUTHOR?

2. Point of View/Bias

  • Who publishes this information (check the URL)?

  • Is any organization sponsoring this web site? Could it be biased?

  • Has the information been published as part of a larger institution (for example, a university or a business)--or as a personal web site? If the site is part of a larger institution, does the web site seemed biased in favor of that institution?

  • What appears to be the purpose for this web site (inform, explain, persuade, or something else)?

  • Is there any advertising on the web site? How could this effect the information?

  • WHAT CONCLUSION DID YOU REACH ABOUT THE POINT OF VIEW AND BIAS?

3. Accuracy of Details

  • Where did the author get the information on this site? How do you know?

  • What references (to books, periodicals, or other web sites) are provided on the web site? Can you find these references in a library to verify their accuracy? Can any of this web site information be verified from another source?

  • Is the web site free from grammatical or spelling errors?

  • WHAT CONCLUSION DID YOU REACH ABOUT THE ACCURACY?

4. Current Information

  • When was the information first created and last updated?

  • Can you tell if the material on the site is kept current?

  • WHAT CONCLUSION DID YOU REACH ABOUT HOW CURRENT THE INFORMATION IS?

5. Conclusion

  • What opinion do you now have of this web site? Would you trust the material you find on it? Why or why not?

 

 

 

Unless otherwise noted, all contents ŠJames M. Deem, 1988-2008. 

For permission to quote from or reproduce this material, please contact James M. Deem.

Be sure to visit James M. Deem's other website, The Mummy Tombs for the most mummy information on the Internet.