Web Site Reliability

We are living in a world that uses technology and the Internet every day. Since anyone can post things on a Web Site, it is important to evaluate the web page by seeing how trustworthy it is. We are going to look at five criteria that are present in good web pages to see what sites we can trust, and which ones are garbage. Then we will use the information we have learned to evaluate some websites. You are only going to need to answer the questions in bold.

The first most important aspect of a good Web page is if the information is accurate on the page. We must ask ourselves, "is the information correct? Do I think I can find the same information on other sites?"

Take a look at this first site. What is your first reaction to this page? What information do you know to be incorrect?

Scroll down to the works cited section. What can you tell about the article from the sources it cites? Do you think you can you trust this page?

Sometimes the information on Web Sites is not completely objective, meaning that the site will be biased in giving the information. If the person making the page likes the topic he is writing about, he might only put positive things in his site. If the person does not like the topic, she might put only negative things about the topic.

Take a look at this site. How objective do you think this site is about Human Growth Hormone? What evidence do you see that makes it biased?

Since anyone can put anything on the Internet, it is important to see if the information covered on a page is important. Does the information contain facts? Would you feel intelligent telling your grandmother this information?

Look at the material being covered on this page. What can you tell about the information on this page? Is the information important to the public? Is this site being serious?

With new gains in technology and information being made every day, it is important to make sure that we have the most up to date information. Ideas we believed to be true ten years ago are often found to be false with more recent research. It is important to always scroll to the top or the bottom of the page to see when the page was last updated, or when it was copyrighted. If it does not have a date or the date is older than ten years,  the information might not be accurate.

Look for a date on this first page. Does the website look recent to you? Can you find a date on it? What does that say about the quality of the site?

Click on the link that says "Press Release on Human Radiation Experiments". What was the date on that? Would this site be considered recent? Why or why not?

Many people you know use the Internet. Some people often even make their own web pages when they do not know much on the subject. In fact, your twelve year old brother could be claiming to be an expert on the subject, when he is only twelve!

You must always look at the bottom of a page for a link about the author. The author should be a professor or someone who is an expert on the subject, winning various credible awards for her work.

Who do you think this Erika is? When you click on her homepage link at the bottom of the page, what is her job? Do you feel that she is an expert on the subject of Dylan McDermott? Should you trust this site?

Now that you have been exposed to five of the most important things to look for to see if a web site is reliable, you can decide whether or not you think the web site is good.

What do you think about this web page? Is the information accurate? Is the source an expert? Is the site recent? Is the information covered important? Is the site objective? Would you say this is reliable?

Take a look at this web page, looking at whether or not you think it is reliable.

Who is the author of this website, and is it an expert? Is the page recent? Is the page objective? Is the page accurate? Is the information covered important? Would you trust this page for information?

This page might be a bit trickier.

Do you think that the author is credible and objective? Is the information covered important? Is the site recent? Is the information accurate as far as you can tell? Is the author an expert on the subject? Would you trust this page to give you good information?