An Educator's Guide to Credibility and Web Evaluation
Originally written by: Toni Greer, Donna Holinga, Christy Kindel and Melissa Netznik of Springfield Public Schools
Revised 7/2002 by: Josh Brown, Kathy Hickey, and Valerie Pozen
With 2002 Addendum by: Heidi Adreon, Anne Catey, and Kery Strysick
Revised 7/2005 by: Geoff Day, Shannon Flannell, Patti Forbes, Amy Higgins, and Lisa McMillion-Miller
This White Paper was written as part of EPS 415, a class in the CTER program through the University of Illinois, as instructed by Nick Burbules. Other White Papers in this series include: Access, Free Speech vs. Censorship, Privacy, Commercialism, Intellectual Property, Computer Crimes, and Ethics.
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Methods of Evaluation Because of the lack of guidelines and monitoring, and the issues related to information (excessive amounts, absence of representation, mobility, and retrieval), and bias and objectivity matters, we must have strategies to evaluate the information found on the World Wide Web. There are a variety of methods of criteria to consider, ranging from personal, informal methods to the more educational, formal techniques. There is no one perfect method of evaluating information, rather "you must make an inference from a collection of clues or indicators, based on the use you plan to make of your source." ( Harris, R. ). Credibility Indicators There are a multitude of indicators which you can use to evaluate a site. Some of the most common indicators mentioned in several sources are to look at the following: Authorship: This is a major factor in considering the accuracy and credibility of information found on the Internet. Evaluating credentials of an author involves analyzing the educational background, past writings, expertise, and responsibility he/she has for the information. One should check the knowledge base, skills, or standards employed by the author in gathering and communicating the data. Obviously, when we look for information of critical value, we want to know the level of the authority with which he/she speaks. The most effective means of discovering the credibility of an author is to ask yourself the following questions: •Has the content been reviewed, critiqued, or verified in any way?In addition to these questions, the University of Florida suggests utilizing reference books found in local libraries, such as Who's Who in America, Biography Indexes, company directories in the Business Reference collection, and publisher directories and biographical encyclopedia in Reference. Links to and from a Resource: Dr. Nicholas Burbules and Thomas Callister, Jr. in their article, "Who Lives Here? Access to and Credibility Within Cyberspace," have identified another method of determining credibility. In their report, they discuss the transfer of credibility issue which exists when one person links to or cites another, such as with blogs.. They propose that the "web links that constitute the Internet is a vast network of relations of credibility: the people who establish active links to reliable information, and whose information or viewpoints are in turn identified and recommended by others, gain credibility both as users of information and as providers of it." Also noted here was the fact that there are many times when the author or agent of a particular piece of information cannot be identified; therefore, judgments of credibility rely upon the avenues through which the information was attained, the links others have made to the information, and the frequency with which the information has been accessed. Just as references through linking can provide an indication of credibility for information so to is this networking contributing to helping consumers judge the credibility and reliability of services and products. Internet access has increased and improved the ability of consumers to gather information about purchases and to share experiences they have had with different suppliers such as when rating the performance of the merchants on eBay.com with Epinions.com. Being able to quickly compare products and prices as well as receive feedback from previous buyers can aid a consumer in judging the credibility of products and services. Publisher: The publisher of the document should be noted. Unlike print materials, Web pages do not have to go through a screening process in order to verify that it has met the standards or aims of the organization that serves as publisher. On the contrary, the publisher of Internet materials may simply be the server (computer) where the document lives. Therefore, there are a series of questions (taken from Elizabeth Kirk's, Evaluating Information Found on the Internet) to assess the role and authority of the "publisher," or server: •Is the name of any organization given on the document you are reading? Are there headers, footers, or a distinctive watermark that show the document to be part of an official academic or scholarly Web site? Can you contact the Webmaster from this document?To check the validity of the publisher, Web databases, to which academic institutions often subscribe, are highly reliable. This information, along with information one can receive from government agencies, trade and professional associations, major universities, or research centers, can equip navigators with the necessary tools to evaluate publisher validity. Date of Publication/Currency: Determining when the source was published is a necessary step in discerning a site's accuracy. It can usually be found at the bottom of the home page, and sometimes every page. Look to make sure the source is current or out-of-date for your specific topic. Topics which continually change or develop rapidly (sciences) require more current information. The reverse may also be true, if, perhaps, you were studying humanities. The following criteria, as given by Elizabeth Kirk, can be used to ascertain the timeliness of a document: •The article includes the date on which information was gathered. Domain Types: This involves examining the end of the URL. For example, if the following domain types were found in the URL, you would be able to determine where the information came from: •.gov is a U.S. government site ( http://www.whitehouse.gov)In addition, Professor Geof Bowker (School of Library and Information Science), in his interview, noted that web sites are found to be more credible if the length of the URL is short and the end of the URL contains .edu, .gov, and .org, specifically. Site Format/Overall Design: Certain types of formats are more accessible on the Web, and are easier to use. When selecting first rate sites, a variety of qualities should be present. The information should be easy to find and use. The design should be appealing to its audience. The text should be easy to read, not muddled with distracting graphics, fonts, and backgrounds. The site should be well organized and easy to get around. The page should load in a reasonable amount of time and consistently be available. In addition, recognizing spelling errors, grammatical errors, and profanity will assist in evaluating Web site design. "A great site has personality and strength and character." ( ALSC Children and Technology Committee, Selection Criteria) Purpose: Credibility issues are not only related to the material itself, but also to the reader's purpose. Therefore, another method of evaluating information is to consider the viewer's purpose for using the site. For instance, a viewer's purpose might be for their personal interest or for professional or educational reasons. A person viewing a site about another country, for example, may be looking at that site to plan a vacation. The purpose of locating and evaluating the information is personal. On the other hand, if the viewer is using the site for educational reasons, such as researching the government, economy, natural resources, etc. of this country, their purpose is quite different, and a different type of site would be necessary. Obviously, this information would need to be accurate and verified in several other types of sources. These two uses of the information, personal and professional/educational, are quite different and would make a difference in the evaluation of information. Accuracy: In addition to the other areas listed, information provided by a site needs to be accurate. The best way to check the accuaracy of the information given is to see if the same information can be found on two other sites or other sources. As long as these sites are deemed credible, the information is probably accurate. Checklists The evaluation tools that have been designed and used for centuries to evaluate traditional printed resources are not sufficient in assessing the credibility of material found on the web due to the nature of this vast new medium. However, there are a variety of tools that have been designed to assist in the evaluation of Internet information. These include checklists, surveys or worksheets, and rubrics. The creators of these evaluation tools have utilized different credibility indicators, which are evaluated using the criteria that they have established. A few of the more useful evaluation tools include Kathy Schrock's surveys, Alexander and Tate's checklist, and the CARS checklist, which assesses the credibility, accuracy, reasonableness, and support presented within an Internet site. These tools are especially useful for educators in evaluating Web sites to be incorporated into their classrooms, as well as teaching evaluation criteria and critical thinking skills to their students prior to using the Internet. The following are questions and tips, compiled by the University of Florida, which you can ask yourself and keep in mind in order to determine if sites contain bias or issues of objectivity: • Does the author or publisher have a particular viewpoint that they seek to endorse? A large tobacco company will present a perspective on smoking at their web site that varies from that of the American Cancer Society.
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