1	Separating the Wheat from the Chaff: Evaluating Web Resources
2	Sharon S. Chadwick Science Librarian Humboldt State University Library Arcata CA 95521 phone: x4955 email: ssc1@humboldt.edu
3	It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness… A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (1859)
4	"Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense." Gertude Stein (untitled essay, 1946)
5	Misinformation has always been around...
6
7	"I worry more about poor quality of information online, and students' lack of skills for evaluating information, than I worry about frequently discussed evils like pornography." Malcolm Parks University of Washington Internet Researcher (Quoted in Newsweek, 10 May 1999, p. 48)
8	Remember the Five W’s of Writing? Who? What? Where? When? Why?
9	The Five W’s May be Applied When Evaluating Web Resources
10	WHO Who’s on first?
11	Question Authority!!
12	Ask Yourself: Who is the author of the web page/site? Is it easy to determine? Are the following available for the author? credentials affiliation reputation biographical info email address or other contact info
13	Who? Ask Yourself (continued) Is the author easily identifiable? Did you get here from a site that you trust? With what type of institution is the site affiliated? Look at the domain name for .edu, .gov, .org, etc. Be suspicious of .com sites. Domain Name Registries Around the World http://www.uninett.no/navn/domreg.html
14	WHAT?
15	What? What is the purpose of the site or page? Is it to inform, entertain, influence, provide current awareness, advertise, or ???? What is the bias? Is the page or site objective? What is the coverage? What is the intended audience?
16	WHERE
17	Where? Where are you? Deconstruct the URL if unsure. Where does the information come from? Is it accurate? Where are citations to the origin of the information? Where is the bibliography or list of references? Where are the links to related web sites? Where can the information be corroborated and/or confirmed?
18	When??
19	When? When was the web page/site created? When was the web page/site last updated? When were the links checked? When were dead links last removed? When is the site or page updated? Is it on a regular basis? When does the site/page maintainer respond to suggestions & corrections?
20	Why? Why is this site/page unique? Should I look elsewhere? Why is this site/page relevant? Why was this document produced? What is its purpose? Why is there a sponsor for the page?
21	The Sixth Question to Ask: How?
22	How? How reliable is accessibility to the site/page? How is the site/page organized? How graphic-intensive is the site/page? Are the graphics necessary? How easy is it to use and navigate about the site/page? How are hyperlinks (hot links) presented? How long does it take to load the page?
23	The Human Touch Subject catalogs and directories Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com Rating & Reviewing Services Encyclopedia Britannica Internet Guide http://www.britannica.com/
24	Gateway Services & Virtual Libraries Developed by librarians and/or subject experts to point to high-quality web sites Argus Clearinghouse http://www.clearinghouse.net Librarian’s Index to the Internet http://lii.org/ The Scout Report http://wwwscout.cs.wisc.edu/index.html Infomine: Scholarly Internet Resource Collections http://infomine.ucr.edu/ Internet Public Library http://www.ipl.org
25	Let’s Do Some Exercises Now!