Introduction and Similarities In an age of technology and constantly changing information, being able to discern reliable sources on the web is important. Websites are created not only to provide information, but entertainment and financial reasons as well. When evaluating a website, there are nine areas that need to be considered to determine a website’s dependability, such as the author, publisher, accuracy, currency, purpose, content, bias, knowledge, and layout. While researching the 2012 Hurricane Sandy disaster, the following sites, FEMA.gov and Propublica.org, both have a page or pages focused on the relief efforts and methods in which changes are necessary to effectively respond to such a disaster in the future. Though both sites concentrate on the same topic, this is where the similarities end.
Author, Publisher, Accuracy, and Currency
The first criteria of a good website to consider is does the article or website have an author or publisher listed? Both websites provide the names of the authors of the website or article. FEMA’s authors’ biographies indicate both have service related history with administrative and management experience. The authors’ of the Sandy article on the Propublica page are all investigative journalists with backgrounds varying from politics to finance to news correspondent. Propublica publishes stories just like any other news organization whereas FEMA is published and maintained by the Department of Homeland Security, which makes the
To be reliable means to be dependable. For a website to be reliable, it needs to present facts or issues in an unbiased manner; we need to be able to depend on the information found on the site. Some websites are better at that than others. Martin Luther King, Jr.: A True Historical Examination looks like a reliable resource for students researching Martin Luther King, Jr., but the site lacks the objectivity of a similar site, the Seattle Times’ website, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, making it unreliable.
Should websites such as Wikipedia, Answers.com, and Reference.com be monitored for false information? Author, John Seigenthaler in his narrative article published in 2005 in the USA Today “A False Wikipedia Biography,” he begins his personal story by describing how his character was assassinated by publishing false and malicious “biography” under his name on Wikipedia, the popular, online, free encyclopedia. His first goal is to convey millions of people that Wikipedia is a flawed and irresponsible research tool. His second goal is to raise the awareness of how Wikipedia works. By establishing his credibility, building his case slowly, and appealing to both logic and emotions, Seigenthaler succeeds in writing an interesting and informative
The United States revolution is one of the most iconic events in not just American, but world history. So when performing research on a platform as vast as the internet, proper precautions must be taken. A well designed and thorough web evaluation should be done to ensure the credibility and integrity of the website’s content. Certain Criteria involve who authored the website, when the website was created, when it was last updated, who the website was intended for, what types of resources the website offers, and the sites overall value to the reader.
For instance, “History.com” has pictures and maps explaining the traumatic event that happened during the sneak attack on the United States. But me careful there are some websites out there that are very questionable and unreliable but sometimes we have to trust the sources and wish for the best. The infor mation I gatheted on “History.com” have quotes from the genereal from the army after the attack. Although the website is very reliable it has its flaws. Some information in their text were from themselves personally and none of
The Values and Motives Questionnaire, also known as the Values and Motives Inventory, is designed to examine a person’s motivation in relation to his values and activities. In order to ensure a comprehensive understanding of values, the VMQ assess three distinct areas, including: interpersonal, intrinsic, and extrinsic. Interpersonal values, according to the VMQ refer to one’s relationships with others. Intrinsic values contain one’s personal beliefs and attitudes. Finally, extrinsic values are one’s motivating factors at the workplace. Each of these three areas contain twelve topics
Credibility material: Since the assignment of this project, our group has been reading articles from Chicago newspapers, blogs, news stations, and government agencies.
Values and Motives Questionnaire: The Technical Manual (n.d.). Retrieved from the Liberty COUN 521 website: Psytech International.
Criteria Used in Evaluating Web Resources. (2014, January 1). Retrieved November 5, 2014, from http://unfccc.int/essential_background/library/items/1420.php
I knew that the websites were genuine, and that the information in them was correct because the websites that I used were well known, and a lot of my friends use them. For example, I used Bitesize, and Wikipedia. There were a lot more pros than cons to using this source. One of the pros was that it was quick to search up what I needed to know, and it was good because I knew that the information was correct. I knew that the information was correct, because I double checked, by looking it up on another website just to make sure that I was 100% putting correct information. Another good point was that on the bitesize website, it the information was laid out in a formal way, so that I could easily understand what I was reading. Although, one of the cons was that when I was using Wikipedia, some of the information was laid out in huge blocks of writing, so therefor, it was sometimes hard to find the parts of information that I wanted, so obviously, Wikipedia wasn’t as good as bitesize. Another con to this was that because the information was quite hard to understand, I sometimes got really confused and wasn’t sure that what I was writing didn’t make any sense, and that the information could come across incorrect. So overall, this showed me that for me personally, I was only able to use websites that were laid out in a simple form, otherwise I would find the work really hard to complete.
My paper focuses on a security assessment of Quality Web Design (QWD), which is a very successful company that is well-known for its magnificent and appealing websites; they work
Familydoctor.org is a website that offers information on a health related topics and wellness. This website has a domain of .org which means it is operated by an organization. The main purpose of this website is to provide families with information on health related topics and offer wellness information that will benefit all members of the family. This website was chosen based on the fact that many people have families. Anyone who is interested in any health topics and/or wellness can find this site by searching in various search engines, such as Google or yahoo, by typing into the search bar family health or whatever health
Web sites are just like magazines, newspapers, brochures, menus, or even directions on how to make nitroglycerin from house-hold goods, in that they all have to be put together in such a manner that whoever is reading or browsing over it will be able to clearly distinguish this from that. In this sense, a critique of any particular web site will have justification, while carefully considering also that this is an altogether new medium of information exchange. Now, all of this talk of togetherness is actually a general reference to basic design principles, such as color coordination, if color is used, text size, font choice/ style, art integration, accessibility, and just plain and simple design of the page. For
Apon revisiting the web site NewsComAu.com, I realised that I had overlooked certain criteria while compiling our online presentation, and although the website’s coverage and currency are good, and the information I used is ratified by other sources, I now notice that the article I used is not referenced and the website is full of advertisements and sensational stories, which although not wrong in itself, would tend to question the objectivity and in turn the authority of the site, and I would hesitate to use it again, NewsComAu, (2014). Eelink.net (1999) inform us that although it is wise to evaluate a website, that ‘good information can be found on bad sites’, and re affirms the need to evaluate the information found on a website as well as the website itself. This becomes particularly applicable if we cannot find information on our subject of research on so called ‘good sites’, which may in fact turn out to have a bias regarding even reporting certain information. This leads us to consider our personal bias, which according to Eelink.net (1999) we all have. Our bias needs to be taken into consideration, because if unchecked this could cause us to dismiss information while researching a subject simply because we personally disagree with it,
Creating a website is a task which can be accomplished by many; requiring an internet connection and minimal skills. As a result, there is an abundance of webpages for ecommerce, social networking, news, corporations, and more. Howard Rheingold’s strategies on Digital Literacy provide many effective tips for better navigating the web. For this assignment, I conducted research on RSV, an illness otherwise known as Respiratory Syncytial Virus. The results were tremendous, as there was an outpour in journal and news articles and even biblical references. Many websites presented similar information, however The American Lung Association, CNBC, and Women and Infants.org were distinctive. The strategies presented by Rheingold were applied to analyze
Let me begin by stating that I enjoyed this exercise. I wasn’t aware many of these websites existed, and therefore, I took the time to review most of the websites listed on chapter three. According to Northouse (2016), “new reporting methods such as crowdsourcing, open-source reporting and pro-am journalism are becoming the focus for more and more news operations in the United States” (p. 92). These reporting methods or digitals bring readers and journalists closer together than ever before (Northouse, 2016).