Finding Information on the Web II

CS 102

Oct. 9, 2006

Introduction

The purpose of this lab is to sensitize you to the issues of the uses of information. Virtually anyone can publish on the Internet and get their pages indexed by a search engine. Not everything you find is worthwhile -- you should be critical of everything you see. Ask yourself: Does the author/sponsor of this site have a hidden agenda? Are they trying to get me to think a certain way? Are they selling to me? Do they know what they're talking about, or are they merely trying to pass themselves off as an expert? Is the information fresh or is it stale?

Lab

1. Break into medium-sized groups of from four to six. You may wish to choose someone to lead the discussion and someone else to record the results of the discussion.

2. Discuss among yourselves how each of you evaluates Web sites. How do you decide if a site is trustworthy, has truthful, correct, and up-to-date information, etc.

3. Have a few members of your team use search engines to find and study a few Web sites giving tips on Web site evaluation.

4. Using everyone's good ideas and the good ideas you found on the Web, develop a Web site evaluation checklist. Be prepared to present your checklist to the rest of the class.

Tom Kelliher