The Validity of A Website

ELACC7W8: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard

format for citation.

Website Validity

• A seemingly innocent web site related to Dr. Martin Luther King looks innocent enough, but the information on the site itself is definitely not.

• A student who conducts a search for Martin Luther King in Google will generally find this site in the top five results, claiming it is a "valuable resource for students and teachers."

• Since research suggests students are most likely to choose results on or near the top of a list of results, many students are likely to click on this site.

The site contains inappropriate content.

How can you prevent yourself from being fooled by invalid sites?

Learning how to read a web address will help you identify its validity.

• Do you recognize the domain name?

The domain name is found after the http:// and www. to the first forward slash /. For example in the URL, jc-schools.net is the domain name.

A domain name can sometimes provide clues about the quality of information of a site or tell you what a site is about.

Reading a URL

How to Read a Web Address• What is the extension in the domain name?

.com and .net are examples of extensions. Extensions are an important part of domain names. You probably know quite a few already. Extensions are intended to show the type of establishment that owns and publishes the domain. Here is a list to look for:

COMMON EXTENSIONS.edu Educational organization (most US universities).k12 US school site (not all US schools use this).ac Academic institution (outside of US).sch School site (some schools outside of the US use this).com Company (usually .co in the UK).org Any organization.gov Government agency.net Network.mil Military institution

New extensions to look for are .biz, .name, .pro, .info. All are used for commercial purposes.

Who has published this site and how do we find out?

• If you are ever unsure about the information on a web page and want to know who owns the site or has published the material, go to www.easywhois.com.

Enter the URL

easyWho?S

Who owns it? Stormfront.org

The publishers of this site also host the Martin Luther King site. These sites are blocked by an Internet filter at school for good reason.

Find the Publisher of a Website

• Researching web site owner information may not be something you do all the time, but it may be revealing if you are at all concerned about the quality of information on a site and want to know more about it.

• Another good source for website ownership is an “About Us” link found at the bottom of some webpages.

Who is this?

Click Link

A CLUE

More CLUES

Ph.D.? Scroll to the

bottom of the

page to see if

there are more clues.

Valid?

What is the History of a Website?

• The Wayback Machine: www.archive.org allows you to browse through 30 billion web pages archived from 1996 to a few months ago. To use this site type in the URL of a site or page of which you would like to research, and click the Take Me Back button. Once you have conducted your search, select from the archived dates available.

URL

Let’s check out the website on Dr.

King.

Click a date to see how this site used to look.

Contact

April 1999

Jan. 2002

Contact

No Contact?

Jan. 2005

Check the External Links

What kind of flyer is this?

Check Your Sources

• Researching a web site owner’s information may not be something you do all the time, but it may be revealing if you are at all concerned about the quality and validity of information on a site and want to know more about it.