McGregor, Texas, McGinley Memorial Public Library Books and Friends: How to Use the Web for Research & Reference

The solution as to whether to let students use Internet Websites is a simple one for most high school, college, and university instructors. Ordinarily, they don’t accept Web-based references. However, this decision overlooks scholarly articles available only on the Web. Thus, the time has come for all Internet users to learn how to surf the Web for vetted resources.

How to Evaluate Websites

Revised December 17, 2014

Evelyn Smith

M. S. in Library Science, University of North Texas (2012)
Ph. D. in English, Texas Christian University (1995)

Stop, look, and evaluate before trusting!

Without learning how to evaluate Websites, most high school and college students select a Web page that summarizes a research topic before turning to online library databases. They rarely analyze peer-reviewed articles that they pull from databases to evaluate their authority, objectivity, currency, or coverage accuracy, or relevancy (Olin & Uris Libraries, 2012) and seldom use Web pages as sources, although they do consult them to simplify difficult concepts (Head, 2008, p. 429). All Web users, however, can simultaneously heighten their research skills and enhance their critical thinking ability by learning how to analysis Website content in a variety of ways. This metacognitive--or learning about learning--ability provides the scaffolding lifelong learners need to collect and manage information (Hill, 2001, 45-46).

Library Websites for

Evaluating Web Pages

Both public and universities libraries publicize the necessity of Website evaluation. For instance, the Monroeville, Pennsylvania, Website posts a tutorial that instructs patrons on how to assess Internet sites.

Universities and professional schools also publish online Website evaluation tutorials: Cornell University library’s “Webography” provides links to other university Websites that teach their users how to evaluate internet Websites in addition to publishing its own Website evaluation tutorial. The University of California, Berkeley, Penn State University Libraries, and Johns Hopkins University Libraries also have similarly developed generalized Website evaluation tutorials.

University libraries have also created online videos that offer Website assessment and search strategies:

How to Evaluate Information on the Web. (2012). Wolfgram Memorial Library. Widener University. Retrieved from http://www.widener.edu/about/campus_resources/wolfgram_library/evaluate/

The Wolfgram Library then furnishes researchers with a tutorial video on evaluating Web pages for authority, accuracy, currency, and objectivity.

Why can't I just Google? (2010, February 9). Library La Trobe University. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N39mnu1Pkgw

Video explains why students can't just google their research papers.

There's an App for That:
Applying Bloom's Digital Taxonomy

All of these solutions are necessary since users may not know how to evaluate the Websites they encounter. Using the Web and databases as tools, however, helps users climb the ladder of progressively more difficult higher order thinking skills. In other words, “There’s an app for that” in of Bloom’s [new and improved Digital] Taxonomy:

Evaluating: Collaborating, hypothesizing, critiquing;

Analyzing: Structuring, organizing, deconstructing, validating, integrating;

Applying: Editing, demonstrating, sharing;

Understanding: Annotating, performing advanced and Boolean searches;

Tweeting, and blogging

Remembering: Searching and bookmarking.

(Schrock, 2012, Android Apps; Web 2.0 Apps)

Knowing whether a Website is an authoritative one will help students include contemporary information found over the Internet in their assignments and will help consumers evaluate Internet-based information.

A Website Evaluation Bibliography

Evaluating information found on the Internet. (2013,May 28). Johns Hopkins University. The Sheridan Libraries. Retrieved from

http://guides.library.jhu.edu/evaluatinginformation

The Johns Hopkins Sheridan Library Web page asks researchers to consider a Website's authority, how to distinguish between propaganda and misinformation, and how to evaluate internet resources for authorship, an identifiable publishing body, and currency of the document itself. Additionally, the Web page explains how to evaluate social media.

Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to apply & questions to ask. (2012). Finding Information on the Internet: A Tutorial. University of California Berkeley Library. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved from http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html

UC Berkeley's tutorial instructs Web users on how to ask the following questions:

What does the URL tell the user?
What does the perimeter of the Web page divulge about its credibility?
Does the Web page give any indicators of quality information?
What do other sources say about the Web site?
Does all this information add up to make what the user is reading an autoratative Web site?

Evaluating Web sites: Criteria and tools. (2012, September 19). Olin & Uris Libraries. Cornell University Libraries. Retrieved from http://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/ref/research/webeval.html

Olin & Uris Libraries ask researchers to consider the users context, the Web context, and whether a Website can be evaluated using the same criteria used when evaluating a printed book. The reader can also access a select bibliography of sources explaining all to evaluate Websites.

How to evaluate information. (2014). Penn State University Libraries. Retrieved from http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/lls/students/research_resources/evaluate_info.html

This easily understandable Penn State Libraries Web page shows patrons how to evaluate information in both books and periodicals as well as Web sites, determining their currency, authority, validity and accuracy, audience, and point of view or bias.

How to evaluate information on the Web. (2011, July). Widener University. Wolfgram Memorial Library. Retrieved from http://www.widener.edu/about/campus_resources/wolfgram_library/evaluate/

This Wolfgram Library Web page provides links dealing with

How to evaluate blogs for academic research

How to use Wikipedia for scholarly research

Original Web evaluation materials

What Web search engines won't find

How to recognize an advocacy Web page

How to recognize a business/marketing Web page

How to recognize a news Web page

How to recognize an information Web page

How to recognize a personal Web page

Links to examples of various concepts.

Internet Scout Project. (2012). Retrieved from https://scout.cs.wisc.edu

Since 1994, Internet Scout has helped users find, filter and present the best resources on the Web.

Schrock, K. (2012, September 17). Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy. Retrieved from http://www.schrockguide.net/bloomin-apps.html

Schrock applies Bloom's Revised Taxonomy t i-pad, android, goggle,Web2.0, Windows, and Pininterest apps.

Tips on Evaluating Web Sites and Other Information Sources. (2012). Monroeville Public Library. Retrieved from http://www.monroevillelibrary.org/evaluating_websites.php

The Monroeville, Pennsylvania, Public Library provides patrons with tips on evaluating Websites, asking users to consider a Web page's author or producer, its bias and objectivity, support and documentation, and its currency and timeliness.

Other References

Head, A. J. (2008). Information literacy from the trenches: How do humanities and social science majors conduct academic research. College and Research Libraries, 69(5), 427-335.

Hill, J. R. & Hannafin, M. J. (2001). Teaching and learning in digital environments: The resurgence of resource-based learning. Educational Technology: Research and Development, 49(3), 37-52. doi: 10.1007/BF02504914

Subscription-based Research Databases

Since most high school teachers and almost all college and university instructors will not accept Wikipedia references because they are not vetted, students may need to turn to subscription databases with some editorial control to complete their research.

Accordingly, McGregor residents who are also card-carrying Waco-McLennan County Library patrons can turn to a large array of databases for help with research and homework. These databases include, but are not limited to Academic Search Complete, a Science and Technology Collection, the Essay and General Literature Index, a Legal Collection. Texans, who are patrons of TexServe-member libraries can also access similar subscription databases Online. Most libraries now furnish similar databases.

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APA & MLA Guidelines for Research Papers